My Power Over You
by Shintori Khazumi
Summary: Sapphire and Burgundy orbs clashed together. Not one giving to the other. Both of them were staring, they knew, and yet no one wanted to break it.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, people, I'm not sure, but as my reconciliation for not updating my other story for so long, here is another that I have been planning to put out, along with Akiron-san… I'm sorry if I almost forgot about this little collab project we are supposed to have… I'll be testing the waters first with this chap… Please read and review and tell me if I should continue with this story. Thank you very much.**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**

 **Disclaimer: (for the first time ever) I (sadly) don't own MGLN or any of its characters… They'd be married if I did… teehee ;)**

 _ **Sapphire and Burgundy orbs clashed together. Not one giving to the other. Both of them were staring, they knew, and yet no one wanted to break it.**_

 _ **How did it end up like this?!**_

Nanoha woke up in her bed, slowly rubbing her eyes, trying to adjust to the sudden burst of sunlight caused by her open curta-…. Open curtains?!

"Good morning Nanoha! Geez… it's been a full hour since your alarm clock went off. How is it that you manage to sleep through something that loud? At this rate, you're gonna be late for your first day at your new school." Nanoha's sister, Miyuki, stated.

"What?" She replied, sleepily processing what she had just heard, then her eyes widened. "WHAT?! I have to hurry!" Nanoha said as she fell from her bed, tripping over the sheets and stumbling into the bathroom.

Yep… This was the start to a _LOOONG_ day.

* * *

Nanoha rushed down the stairs fixing her tie. She quickly gobbled up her bacon and eggs, no hesitation present in her eyes. She was determined to make it to school on time. Kissing her parents on the cheek and giving her siblings a quick hug, she bid them farewell and ran out the door with a piece of toast in her mouth. The perfect clichéd scene.

After barely making it onto her train, Nanoha checked her reflection in the train's window. She looked a little roughed up, probably because of all the running she had done. After fixing herself up, she took one last look at her reflection and gave herself a satisfied nod. 'Not bad' she thought. The uniform of this school was pretty neat, with light blue blouses covered with a gray vest and white blazer, accompanied by a white skirt and red tie.

The school Nanoha was going to attend starting this 2nd semester was famous for all the prestigious families sending their children to study there, aside from that, the school did peovide a wonderful education and a comfortable learning atmosphere.

Nanoha sighed. How could she keep up with all these amazing people there? She was pretty sure she would meet geniuses of all sorts, maybe someone who could cure the horrible taste of medicine for a change.

Oh why did she ever choose this place of education?

Oh right. It was nearer than the public school, plus she was offered a scholarship here. No wonder. Nanoha just hoped that Arisa and Suzuka accepted their scholarships as well. No way she was going through this alone. They did receive the offer together.

Upon arriving at the gate, Nanoha's eyes widened with surprise and gleamed with happiness. There at the gate, stood Arisa and Suzuka waiting for her, warm smiles plastered on their faces. Nanoha ran up to them.

"Arisa-chan! Suzuka-chan! You came here too?" Nanoha said squealing in delight.

"Is it really that much of a surprise?" Suzuka questioned, since she knew Nanoha wished with all her heart to be with them at the same school. It was also for… other… reasons.

"Well, not really for you, but Arisa-chan! I thought you were going to stay at the dorms of that boarding school your parents wanted you to attend?" Nanoha turned to the blonde in question.

"Well, I talked to them about how the three of us received scholarships here and they found it okay." Arisa replied.

"You just didn't want to be left out, right?" Suzuka grinned teasingly.

"Sh-Shut up! Be grateful at least." Arisa muttered, flustered.

"Yeah,yeah… we're grateful, very grateful!" Suzuka said hugging Arisa, making the latter blush.

"S-suzuka…." Arisa whined.

"OK, ok… enough with the flirting you two. Let's go inside already." Nanoha teased, adding to Arisa's embarrassment and making Suzuka flush lightly.

* * *

The three of them had only transferred here during the 2nd semester due to the planning, mostly on Arisa's persuading her parents, so none of them were familiar with the school.

"Let's see…" Arisa said, looking at a guide manual. "It says here that this school is composed of a nursery, kindergarten, elementary, middleschool, highschool and college. The complete educational package, so to speak." She explained trying to read the map, because currently, the three of them were… lost.

"I still can't believe that this school is this big. I wish we weren't lost…" Suzuka sighed, exasperated.

"Well, I guess it is pretty normal. We just transferred, we missed the open-house and orientation, not to mention, we don't know anyone from this place and we've only been here once and that was to file our applications, unless you two have been here other times." Arisa stated. They both shook there heads.

The three continued walking till they reached a fountain at the center of four walkways that seemed to intersect. They sat down on some of the benched near the fountain. The sun was bright, but the atmosphere was cool with many trees around the area. Over all, it was a pretty peaceful and secluded place.

"Ugh, what time is it anyway?" Arisa asked, placing her head on Suzuka's lap as she sat down and hugging her waist tightly in the process, making Suzuka blush profusely.

"NO IDEA…" Nanoha replied, lying down on the bench next to Arisa and Suzuka's, while covering her eyes.

The gentle breeze was soothing to the tired transferees and they didn't mind sitting there peacefully, with a little hope of someone finding them and showing them to their destination.

"Ummm… are you three skipping classes?" A soft voice questioned.

Nanoha took her hand from her eyes and found herself staring deeply into pols of burgundy. Now we are at our current situation.

Arisa and Suzuka just sat there watching the other two, but as time flew by, Arisa took the initiative to break the awkward atmosphere. "Ehem…" Arisa cleared her throat.

Realizing what she was doing, Nanoha snapped out of her trance. "O-oh… I'm very sorry." Nanoha apologized, breaking eye contact. 'What is she apologizing for?' Arisa and Suzuka sweatdropped.

"A-ah! It's ok… I didn't really mind…" the stranger replied. 'What are we missing?' Arisa and Suzuka looked at each other and shrugged.

Nanoha took a look once more as the girl straightened up. Nanoha realized that she must have bent over her. She instantly blushed. The girl was very, VERY beautiful. Blonde hair, wine red eyes, slender body and waist, big b-" Nanoha shook her head to gather her thoughts. 'Bad Nanoha, Bad Nanoha' She mentally slapped herself for having such thoughts about someone she just met.

"Um… I'd like to ask again if you are skipping class. Wait… come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you before. Are you intruders?" The blonde said, a beam of light showing in her hand, forming a sword. Her once warm voice, turned hostile.

"W-wait! We can explain." Nanoha said, trying to solve it before things got out of hand. 'Powers huh… Light Control, maybe?' The three transferees thought. "We're transfer students here and we kinda got… lost along the way, Nyahaha." Nanoha was obviously embarrassed with their situation, but nervous as well. One wrong move and-

"Oh… OH! Ahaha… sorry for that." The blonde beauty said, retracting her weapon. 'Thank goodness' The other three thought. "Fate. My name is Fate Testarossa- Harlaown. Nice to meet you, ummm…?" She looked at Nanoha and her companions.

"Oh! This is Tsukimura Suzuka and Arisa Bannings, my friends." Nanoha said gesturing towards the two. Fate nodded to them in acknowledgement to which they nodded back. "And I'm Nanoha." She finished.

"Nanoha? Any last name attached?" Fate said, to which Nanoha reacted nervously. Not everyone knew about her last name's legacy, but some elites did. She wondered if the students here knew. She opened her mouth to reply, but was instantly cut off.

"I don't think she can tell you that yet." Arisa cut in. Nanoha mouthed Arisa a small thanks, to which she waved her hand in a gesture that showed it was alright. 'Good thing me and Suzuka are here… this girl might've spillied.' She thought.

"Oh? Well alright then." Fate raised a brow, but did not push it further, sensing the privacy of the matter. "How about we get you to your cla-" As she said that, the bell rang, signaling the dismissal of classes.

"I guess that means we go to class tomorrow?" Suzuka said questioningly.

"I guess so." Nanoha replied.

"Ummm, guys, " Fate said, gaining there attention. "If you'd like, I can wait for you tomorrow at the front gate so that you won't get lost." She offered.

"Really? Thanks a lot, but are you sure it's not too much trouble?" Nanoha asked.

"Yeah it's fine"

"Don't have club activities or anything?" Arisa confirmed.

"Nah. There's only two of us anyway."

"You won't get tired of waiting?" Suzuka said worriedly.

"Listen, do you want me to wait for you or not?" Fate said frustrated.

"Yes please!" The three answered in Chorus.

"Alright then. Meet you tomorrow?" Fate said.

"Ummm…" Nanoha interjected.

"Yes?"

"We don't know how to get back to the gate." Nanoha voiced out.

"Oh… right. Let's go then."

"Yes!"

 **A/N: And that was my first chapter! Tell me if you are interested in it people… Don't forget to leave a lik- I mean review if I should or shouldn't keep this story going! Looking forward to your support! Peace out y'all!**

 **~Shintori Khazumi.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello! Khazumi here, didn't expect a long one. I had a hard time finding time to update y'know! Well anyways, thank you to those who have asked for an update! Here it is. 'MY POWER OVER YOU' chapter 2**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**

The following day, as promised(?), Fate stood waiting at the gate. _'I wonder if they'll be here anytime_ _soon. Especially Nanoha.'_ At that thought, Fate blushed. "Nanoha…" She remembered her first encounter with the brunette, who at first sight, stole her heart- _'wait a sec… stole my hea- oh who am I_ _kidding! She most likely did_.' Fate unconsciously grinned like an idiot.

The first time she actually saw Nanoha was at this very gate. ' _OK… about yesterday's confrontation, I totally forgot I saw her at the gate already! Don't blame me… I'm usually the patrol guard and this was the first time in a while that I encountered strangers lurking around again.'_ Anyways, back to Nanoha. When she entered the gate, the atmosphere seemed to change. Fate knew she garnered quite the attention from everyone. After all, this was a school far from normal. Yes, this school did offer a great and normal education, but there were special classes for different 'talents' such as herself. Time-Space Academy, or better known as TSA, was not fully a magic school, but they did offer scholarships to those who were either really smart, talented, or, in others' cases, had magic. Well she guessed Nanoha and the others already knew this… maybe. Fate paled.

"What if they don't?!" Fate freaked out.

"Pffftt… ahaha… nyahahaha…"

Fate turned around and blushed even more. There stood Nanoha, Arisa and Suzuka. "Uwaa! Please forget about that!" Fate said covering her face to hide her embarassment.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think we can forget something like that, rather we don't want to." Suzuka stated while suppressing a giggle.

"Who knew? Yesterday, we were all so tense around you, the cool beauty named Fate, but now…. I don't know. Who knew you had this side to you?" Arisa said quite amused.

"Just please… don't mention it anymore… please." Fate begged.

"Nyahaha… don't worry… Fate-chan is still cute. This makes you even cuter!" Nanoha commented, not noticing the blush on the other's face. "Anyway, should we get going then? I think we're getting stared at." Nanoha mentioned. Everyone looked around and found it to be true.

' _Or… maybe it's just you getting attention'_ The three except Nanoha thought. For some reason, Nanoha just had this… aura around her that Fate could not explain. _'Hmmm… maybe they do have powers?'_

"Yeah, I guess we should." Fate replied, leading the bunch.

* * *

Walking through the corridors, the girls chit-chatted inserting short reintroductions to get to know each other better. Nanoha finally told Fate her last name, though the other didn't show any significant reaction. _'Good. Means our info hasn't leaked yet.'_ Nanoha inwardly sighed in relief.

"So, you three have been friends since you started grade school?" Fate asked.

"Yeah, but Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan have known each other longer." Nanoha stated.

"Ehhh… oh about this, Suzuka… Are you some kind of oujo-sama? You kind of give off this elegant air… like a princess!" Fate questioned thoughtfully.

"Yeah! Both me and Arisa-chan." Suzuka said, happily clutching onto Arisa's arm.

"Arisa? Seriously? Well come to think of it… you do give off this proud and authorative aura, but… it's more like a…" Fate's eyes widened as if she discovered something and she covered her mouth. During the girls' short reintroduction, she picked up on Arisa not wanting to be compared to a boy.

"Like a?" Arisa pressed. Nanoha and Suzuka were both sending frantic hand gestures to Fate to not continue.

"Spit it out Fate." Arisa commanded.

"L-like a.. Like a…" Fate swallowed. She closed her eyes quickly… Like a p-p"

"P?"

"P-pri…pri..pri-pretty GIRL!" It didn't go as well as Fate thought. Arisa gave Fate a chop on the head. After that, Arisa said "Fate, you should have just told me… but I don't blame you, really." Arisa became shy all of a sudden which Fate found shocking. "I get that a lot…" She admitted sighing. "P-prince that is…"

"A WHOLE LOT!" Nanoha interrupted, successfully earning a hit on the head. "Ouch…"

"Now, now, Arisa-chan. At least take it as a compliment." Suzuka patted her head.

"But I. AM. A. GIRL! Why _prince_?!" Arisa said frustrated, remembering all those middle school memories of squealing fan girls and that play…

"Well, to take your mind off of it, think of it as… you're my prince!" Suzuka announced happily. Arisa blushed. Why did that sound like a fact more than a suggestion?

"Oh I forgot to ask…" Fate cut in, gathering everyone's attention. "What class are you in?"

 **Everything stopped.**

"We got carried away,huh?" Arisa said.

"Y-yeah." The rest replied. Luckily, they came to school early so they had about 5 minutes before the bell.

"Um, if it helps, the accountant at the desk gave us these folders when we enrolled to give to the teacher." Nanoha said digging through her bag and handing Fate a clean white folder.

"Oh, ok. Let me see…" As Fate read for the class, her eyes widened. "S…S… Class… S… The Star class or commonly known as the "SPECIAL CLASS"" Fate said shocked. "Just how amazing are you?" She questioned the transferees. They responded by shrugging their shoulders.

"Well at least it's easier now. We're in the same class anyway." Fate said getting over the shock.

"Doesn't that mean you're on our level? If not higher? Status-wise that is." Arisa threw back.

"I… I don't think so. Transferees getting into special classes… especially an advanced one… that's just… AMAZING. Most transferees, mostly scholars like yourself, only get class A at most and just take side classes for their specialties."

"Explain…" Arisa encouraged her to continue.

"Well… the system goes like this. Most S-class students have been here from the start of their school days carefully building their skills up. You see, you have to work hard and prove to everyone in this school that you deserve to be and belong in the S-class." Fate elaborated.

"Well, doesn't that mean you all are plenty amazing yourselves?" Suzuka said, still confused as to this system.

"Still! This will cause a huge uproar if you guys don't prove yourselves, and anyway, what's your 'special talent'?" Fate asked, truly curious to how these three made it here.

"Talent? As in general? Well… AH! Ummm… what was it again?" Suzuka said, knowing full well that they weren't supposed to reveal anything too private yet and just played it off innocently.

"Well, mine goes in the music section." Arisa said calmly. ' _Nice cover Arisa-chan!'_ Suzuka smiled.

"Me and Arisa are also in the intelligence section." Nanoha followed.

"Also?" Fate asked.

"And Nanoha-chan is also in the Martial Arts section." Suzuka continued for Nanoha.

"Oh?" Fate said, but then realized something. "Wait what? You sure Nanoha and Arisa didn't get switched?!"

"How rude. Well, Nanoha doesn't like to show off her musical talent and we have tried to convince her, but I guess I occasionally do." Arisa said.

"What do you play anyways?" Fate asked.

"Piano and Violin." Was the simple reply.

"What about you, Suzuka? Fate turned her attention to the elegant ojou-sama.

"Oh me? I'm in the music and sports sections."

"Now you and Arisa seem to have switched." Fate commented.

"Oi!"

"What? You just seem like the type." Fate said defensively.

"Nah… I'm not as good as they are in studying." Suzuka said before Arisa could blab again.

"Wait…" Fate realized. "You're multi-sectioned! Can you handle all of that?! Fate knew classes might be a bit shorter, but their learning was faster in that class. It was full of geniuses and the like experimenting with their powers and all that, but… it was still tough. ' _Not to mention if they joined clubs too, how would they manage_ _it all?_ ' Fate wondered.

"Yes, Why? The three answered in sync.

"Ugh… no hesitation huh…" Fate stated dryly. "The school work is quite heavy, you know." She looked at them.

"We know. So?" They tilted their heads.

"Nevermind… I feel like this won't get me anywhere- wait… I got off track! I mean what are your pow-" The bell rang just in time. "Ah! We're here." Arisa pointed to the sign as they stopped in front of a door labeled "Star Class".

"So class, as I said, we are waiting for our new students… who were supposed to come yesterday… to arrive…"A pink-haired teacher said whispering the middle part to herself. Just as she said that, the door slid open and Fate stepped in.

"Ah! Testarossa! Where have you been? The teacher questioned Fate with a stoic expression.

"Oh… I was with the transfer students, Signum-sensei." Fate replied seemingly unfazed as Nanoha, Suzuka, and Arisa peeked into the room with only the teacher seeing them. "Well then… bring them in." She said, noticing the three.

"Yes ma'am." Fate replied, beckoning the three to follow her inside. Once they stepped inside, "Oooohhsss and AHHHss" and whispering could be heard from the class.

"OK class. Be quiet and let's have our new students introduce themselves. Questions can be saved for later… OK girls, ready?"

"Y-yes." Suzuka replied a bit surprised but not scared. Then going first, "Hello Everyone and good day to you." She bowed, releasing an elegant aura, the one Fate had felt earlier, around her. One of the hints to knowing if someone was strong or had powers, was their aura, and these three seemed to hide it and control when to show it. Fate observed them thoughtfully. "My name is Tsukimura Suzuka, I am a pure Japanese, as I have heard that most students here are either half Japanese and half foreigner or completely foreign. I am 16 years old and I love music and sports (and Arisa-chan) despite how I may look! I hope we all get along well." She finished receiving an applause from everyone and some stares from a few guys.

Next up was Arisa. "Yo guys." She stated coolly. Now, Suzuka got quite the attention from the male population, but Arisa garnered attention from both guys and girl, especially since she had let her hair grow back a bit, just past her shoulder. "My name's Arisa Bannings and I am… uh, Half-american. Umm… I am in the intelligence and music sections." She completed her introduction. "The girls started chorusing "Seriously?" "Isn't that great?" "Ah! We have the same special section!"

Nanoha was beginning to get nervous. Not because it was her turn to introduce herself, but because Suzuka was seriously starting to release an evil killing intent while still maintaining her smile. 'Seriously girl, try to hide your feelings better if you just won't confess yet.' "Yet" because Nanoha knew it would happen eventually. Nanoha stepped forward to introduce herself (and to avoid getting the bad end of Suzuka's wrath… boy was she scary when jealous or mad.) "Hi everyone!" She smiled, waving and saw a certain blonde with burgundy eyes waving back from the far corner of the room. "Uh… I'm Takamachi Nanoha. Nyahaha. I'm in the intelligence section and the Martial Arts section. I like cooking and baking as hobbies since our Family owns a shop called Midoriya and we also have a dojo." Nanoha finished her introduction. Soon, she was met with a barrage of questions and compliments.

"Really? I hear that shop is awesome!" A male voice echoed.

"Ne, isn't there a hot guy who tends to that shop?" A girl asked.

"Nyahaha… maybe that's my brother."

' _Hmmm…. Nanoha and Arisa don't release an Aura. Are they suppressing it? But normally, that would be a bit hard.'_ Fate pondered while the rest of her classmates asked multiple questions to the new transferees.

One question caught the three off guard and brought Fate out of her pondering. It was a bit soon, but it was inevitable.

"Ne, ne, Takamachi-san, what are your powers? Bannings-san and Tsukimura-san too!" One of their female classmates asked.

"Actual-" As Nanoha was about to answer, the bell rang for their first class period. Today was Tuesday, so… Nanoha took a look at her class schedule. It read 'Powers Class'.

"Guess you guys will know the answer soon." Signum-sensei said with a small smile.

* * *

Everyone stepped into the gym, already changed. The P.E uniform consisted of short-pants, blue since they were first years, A white shirt with the school's logo, and a jacket which no one wore since it was hot.

"Ok class, we will start with a few warm-ups." The teacher announced while leading the group. Once they were finished Signum said. "Ok class, now that you're ready, Activate your powers." She instructed.

Everyone did so, except Nanoha, Fate, Arisa and Suzuka. The three were observing everyone. Each student's powers differed in many ways. There was nature magic, elemental powers, regular magic, weapon formation powers, esper powers, nijutsu, any type of power seemed to be here. They even had one black-magic user, though he could not fully control it yet.

"Wow… it's not a special school for nothin'. It's like they're collecting us." Arisa commented, amazed at the large variation of powers, though not all their classmates had them. Some just sat out since they excelled in a different field which did not have powers. They instead, were at the control booth managing field operations.

Everyone turned to the four. "Testarossa! Activate" The teacher said in a commanding tone.

"Yes ma'am." Fate replied and pulled out a yellow triangular pendant from her blouse. "Bardiche, activate!" Fate commanded.

"Yes sir!" The device replied.

"An intelligent device, huh… well it's not really that uncommon these days, just rare." Arisa commented quietly.

"Just like ours?" Suzuka whispered back.

"No… it's a bit more… not advanced, well maybe it is, but let's say a bit more modernized than ours, but not as strong." Nanoha replied for Arisa.

"Nanoha's right. Since ours are original ancient relics. Her's might be ancient, but it seems to have been modified by the school." Arisa stated, staring at Fate, almost as if she was-

"You scanned it, didn't you?" Suzuka asked.

"Well, yeah." Nanoha looked at Arisa. Her eyes were a different shade of green than usual. They were an emerald color. Nanoha tried to scan as well, her sapphire eyes becoming a greenish color. She looked at the people in the room, checking their powers and levels. Not many of them were at Nanoha, Suzuka and Arisa's level, but still quite strong. Fate though… Nanoha heard the other two gasp. She turned to them, seeing them deactivate their scanning.

"You saw too, huh?" Nanoha said.

"Yeah." The two replied nodding their heads. "I guess she is pretty amazing… those stats… wow." Arisa exclaimed. They tried scanning again without being noticed, but…

"You three!" Signum called out, making the three quickly deactivate their scanning once more.

"Y-yes!" They just hoped they weren't caught. Their side abilities were also supposed to be kept secret.

"You've just been standing there, staring. Activate as well. Then we'll have our all-out class brawl." The teacher instructed.

"A-all out brawl, you say…" Arisa and Nanoha shared a glance.

"What? Too scared? Ha! You should know that you need to prove to all those pupils here that you deserve to be in the S-Class."

"Yes ma'am." They replied reluctantly.

Everyone had already transformed and most of them had modified uniforms rather than the originals. Nanoha thought.

" _Arisa, Suzuka. Modify the transformation gear… We can't let them find out about us having ancient relics, since it seems that none of them know about us."_ Nanoha sent telepathically.

" _Alright"_

"OK ma'am. We're ready." Nanoha said.

Everyone watched.

"Activate!" All three said in unison. Glowing light surrounded them and once it subsided, the three were shone with their gear. Suzuka was in a purple shirt with a white sleeveless hoodie and black gym shorts that were slightly fitted. Violet sneakers that had an ice element printed as a design were on her feet. Arisa wore a green ¾ button down polo, light-brown cargo shorts, and had light green sneakers that had green flames. Nanoha wore a blue shirt with the same hoodie as Suzuka just with an embroidered design that had the initials T.N., a white above-the-knee skirt with cycling shorts underneath and blue and white sneakers. They had modified their weapons a bit as well. Nanoha was holding a handgun with a sniper on her back, Arisa had a katana with a blade made out of flames, and Suzuka had icy brass knuckles.

"Nicely done girls." Signum commented, while other students looked fascinated and others just ranted about how it didn't meet their expectations.

Fate approached them. She wore a yellow shirt with black sides and a pair of white cargo gym shorts like Suzuka. She had black and yellow sneakers on with lightning bolts and still wore her pendant. She was holding a large sword with a blade of light. The same one she had pointed at the girls yesterday in the courtyard. "I didn't expect you to have powers at first, but then again, this is the S-Class so… well yeah… I guess." Fate said.

"OK everyone." Signum said gaining everyone's attention. "For the all-out brawl, you'll be grouped together in teams of four as the maximum number. Choose your own members. The last team standing wins! " Once she had announced that, Fate was immediately being fought over.

"Fate-san!" "Harlaown-san!" "Oi Testarossa!"

"Sorry everyone, but I think I'll go group with them over there." Fate said, gesturing towards Nanoha, Suzuka and Arisa who seemed to be having a hard time looking for a group. ' _I guess everyone wants to test them,huh? Still, that's just too harsh on the new students. Who knows how much experience those_ _girls have!_ ' Fate thought. _'Plus… I want to be with Nanoha._ ' She shook that thought out of her head. ' _No, no, no… it's not the time to be thinking about such things.'_

"Aw! But Fate-san, if you join them, we know your group will win hands down. After all, Fate-san, you **are** this class' ace. You've fought in these things and had not one scratch!" The class commented, trying hard to convince Fate not to join the newcomers.

"That's right! And you even represent the school each year at the inter-school competition, single brawl and team brawl. You are in the top 10 **every year!** " They all voiced out their reasoning.

"But-!"

"Then, it should be ok if I join them?" A new voice said.

"Hayate!" Fate exclaimed, surprised to see her short-haired brunette friend, who usually was to busy to keep up with some classes. It surprised her that the cosplay-loving girl had showed up for today's class. She hoped Hayate would stay for the other classes. She was, after all, one of Fate's trusted companions.

"Eh? No way. Even if you aren't on Fate-san's level, you're still stronger than most of us!" A male student protested.

"Ouch" Hayate replied playfully.

"U-umm… " A voice broke through the noise. "Excuse me, but I think that the three of us will be fine together… without a fourth." Nanoha said, throwing in her idea, trying to get the class started, seeing that her teacher was beginning to look impatient.

"Oh that's not a bad idea." The teacher agreed.

"Eh? You sure you guys will be fine?" Fate asked, voice laced with concern.

"Yeah. I don't think newbies can handle this yet without a complete team, that is, if you don't have experience with the people and with magic." Hayate said worriedly, but at the same time, curious.

"We'll… get through somehow." Nanoha said, Arisa and Suzuka nodding their support.

An uproar began. "Eh? They really think they can take us all on?" One student, who was the supposed 7th best in class, said mockingly.

"How naïve! Ahaha" his friend chanted

"Don't they know we're _**Elites?**_ We'll show there girls it's not as easy as they think." Some plotted.

"Ok everyone! You all ready?" Signum asked, seeing her pupils getting pumped up, though at the same time, a bit careful in case she needed to jump in if someone used bad tactics.

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone replied.

* * *

The wall counter started, "10, 9, 8…" Fate was getting worried. For some reason, everyone seemed to be targeting Nanoha's team. Well, it wasn't really uncommon. It happened with new students all the time… "6, 5…" ' _Please be ok guys!'_ She thought as the buzzer sounded.

"Start!" Signum called out.

Fate and Hayate had teamed up as a duo, fighting a lot of other teams as it started to clear up a bit for them. Without letting their guard down, they spared a glance at Nanoha's team. What they saw, shocked them a bit, but it soon was replaced by warm and excited smiles on their faces. Around Nanoha's team, a lot of other teams had fallen. Fate observed closely. ' _Not bad'_ Their strategy seemed to have had a great balance of offense defense. Suzuka acting as complete defense by making a barricade with '… _is that ice?'_ Hayate and Fate thought. Meanwhile, Nanoha and Arisa were more on the offense. Arisa took out those who were able to get past their barricade, and Nanoha took out mid to far range mage fighters with shooting spells that enhanced her bullets.

* * *

Pretty soon, only four teams remained. Fate and Hayate's duo team, Nanoha, Suzuka, and Arisa's team along with the team of that 7th in class guy and another team that was led by a girl who was the class' 5th best. The downed teams watched in anticipation. The teams charged against each other, but the other two teams were knocked out very quickly leaving the others in shock. Two teams remained. Nanoha and Fate's.

"You guys are pretty good, getting this far." Hayate praised.

"Well, we ain't just for show after all." Arisa replied.

Soon, everyone had begun to take back their earlier remarks about the newbie trio. "These guys are amazing, getting so close to Testarossa and Yagami level." someone remarked.

"Yeah, but in the end, no way they could beat them right?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Let's get to it. Good luck guys." Fate called.

"You too." Suzuka replied.

It started. Fate and Hayate ran in opposite directions of the room to split the attention of the remaining team. Suzuka and Arisa knew what this called for and targeted Hayate as she sent a small bombardment spell towards them, but Suzuka managed to block it successfully with a thick wall of ice. Hayate tried breaking the wall by using a fire spell, but she was surprised when Arisa suddenly jumped from behind the barricade and landed a clean hit on her shoulder.

"Hey, hey… careful, that thing's hot!" Hayate laughed while trying to heal her shoulder from a distance.

"Sorry, but nothin' I can do about it." Arisa grinned.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nanoha was left to fend off Fate. It was kind of a problem at first for Nanoha. Well, anyone could see that, but was it really that hard for her? That question was only asked by Arisa and Suzuka quietly, knowing that Nanoha could do more than she did.

' _Ugh… close hand-to-hand combat… Fate-chan sure is good at this. I haven't been practicing my hand-to-hand very much and it's getting quite 's right. Holding back is hard.'_

"Whats wrong Nanoha? Hard time?" Fate smirked. " Well, I guess you don't seem like the close range fighter. I was observing you… _guys_ …" Fate added quickly. ' _I almost said I was observing you_ _ **only.'**_ "…and I saw you were a mid-far range type. You should've fought Hayate y'know." Fate smiled.

"Well, Testarossa-san…"

" Y'know, my last name's actually Testarossa-Harlaown. I think you've heard others say it?"

"Ah… well then, Testarossa-Harl…"

"Fate is fine." She said lashing her sword at Nanoha as she dodged it perfectly.

"Well then **Fate** " Fate liked how her name sounded from this girl. "If you think I have a problem with hand-to-hand combat, as you clearly have forgotten what I've told you…" Nanoha's sniper suddenly turned into a katana with a blade of light, like Fate's, surprising the girl. "I Don't." Nanoha grinned

' _Right… she said she grew up in a dojo. I forgot.'_ Fate seemed to smile nervously. ' _I wonder what will happen to me.'_ As Fate was preparing to take an unexpected and strong blow that she could no longer block…

"Nanoha-chan!" Suzuka was heard. The pair turned to the fighting trio. Arisa seemed to have an injured arm, due to the simulator and probably a real wound. She was also closing one eye, indicating one was blind due to the simulator, but not really blind in reality. Still, Nanoha worried. Suzuka also seemed to have a sprained ankle as Arisa was covering her defensively.

"I'm fine! Don't worry keep going Nanoha." Arisa yelled. Nanoha seemed to look hesitant from what Fate had observed.

"Sensei! We withdraw." Nanoha announced clearly.

"EHHHH?!" Everyone chorused.

"So either way Testarossa-Yagami still won, huh?" Someone from the stands commented.

"Such a waste of a good game."

"To me, I just think they gave up because they realized they were too weak in front of our class' aces." Someone, mister 7th in place, mocked.

Arisa just gritted her teeth in disappointment. "We could've won if you just let us… Nanoha."

"We're…I'm sorry Nanoha-chan." Suzuka apologized.

"Yeah… sorry for holding you back." Arisa continued, replacing her frown with a smile.

"It's ok guys. At least I had fun. Nyahahaha." Nanoha replied. "At least you guys seem to be fine."

"Well, this is way safer than normal, right?" Arisa said. "Can't believe you got worried too fast."

"Well, they were-"

"Oi! You guys are amazing!" Hayate said approaching them. "I'm Yagami Hayate, by the way. You can call me Hayate." She extended her hand, which the girls gladly took. "Nice to meet you." They replied.

"Boy, you guys had us worried there! And here we thought we'd lose, The MVPs losing to the newbies. What a shame." Hayate said.

"But anyway, it was an awesome game. Nothing me and Fate experienced before, right?" She said, facing Fate who came along.

"Right! I wasn't expecting you to have powers, at first. I really was surprised, but then again, this IS the S-class." Fate said.

"Nah, no way. You still won in the end." Arisa said.

"Yeah right, by default… The most shameful way of losing. Why would you cancel out on us!"

"And no to mention, you guys made it harder this time. Mostly, me and Hayate go single and we still win. Imagine how badly we would've lost if we went single earlier!"! Fate told them.

"Speaking of which…" Arisa trailed off sharing a knowing glance with Suzuka.

"Ah yeah… come to think of it, if Nanoha-chan went on single she'd…" It looked like Suzuka was pondering on what to say. "pretty much mow us all down." Suzuka stated with a happy smile. Fate and Hayate visibly shivered. "Wow… well that's some way to put it." Arisa laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Nanoha cried.

"Well, we know you're holding back since you're with us." Arisa said.

"Eh?" Fate and Hayate were surprised.

"Don't listen to the-"

"You see, Nanoha here, when alone, doesn't hold back. Full power! Full throttle!... or so she says." Arisa explained. "Oh, there was even this time in middle school when she-"

"Arisa-chan!"

"Heh…" Everyone interested listened in.

"But with a team, she holds back so that she won't hurt us and so we work as a team." Suzuka continued.

"Yeah, so it doesn't look like she's the leader, we look like we're all equal."

"Even if we're clearly not." Suzuka finished.

"EH?!" Everyone was surprised while Nanoha did her best to avert her gaze.

"That's right." Signum walked towards the group of students. "She even used a limiter for you guys, didn't you notice?" She stated.

"We didn't!" They replied except Arisa and Suzuka.

"Really? It's there on her wrist. She put it there to show you and you never realized." The teacher said. "I guess you were too busy underestimating her to not notice."

' _Or Nanoha used an invisibility spell on it during the brawl so nobody would notice.'_ Arisa said to herself.

Sure enough, there was a red limiter on Nanoha's wrist.

"Red." Hayate said. "Red…" she stated yet again. "Red?!"

"What's up?" a classmate asked.

"She used a RED limiter?! Remember? There are a couple of limiters. Yellow for one level down, green for two levels down, red for three, blue for four, and white for five or more!" Hayate explained.

"Oh and by the way, she wanted to try using the white one earlier." Signum said.

"What?!"

"Explain yourself Nanoha!"

"Eh? Fate-chan? Everyone? Why are you so angry?" Nanoha asked.

"Ummm… Nanoha-chan, It's probably because..." Suzuka said.

"because?"

"Obviously because they feel like you didn't take them seriously." Arisa said.

"Huh? but I did! I took them all seriously. It was seriously hard y'know!" Nanoha defended.

' _OK, maybe that's partly a lie, I took them seriously, the hard part… I don't know.'_

"Yeah it doesn't really feel like that…" Arisa stated dryly. "I mean, I know me and Suzuka used some too, but we only used the yellow ones."

"Yeah… even me and Fate only use the yellow or green ones, but never higher." Hayate added.

"what?"

"We didn't even use any now… unless Fate did." Hayate continued and looked at the said blonde. "I mean yeah we held back, but we didn't expect you to be this strong." She finished with a sigh.

"Well… I did use a green limiter and held back, but still… who exactly are you guys?" Fate said.

"I-I guess I'm sorry?" Nanoha apologized.

"Sorry, but your' sorry ain't gonna cut it. The only way is…" Hayate grinned. "fighting us all." Hayate said.

"Wh-wha?"

"Without the limiter."

"EHHH? But!" Nanoha tried to protest. "Why?"

"It's to test your strength, duh… we can't assess you in this class like this."

"Assess?"

"Sorry Nanoha, but that's the rule as much as I hate to admit." Fate said.

"What kind of rule is that? Where?"

"It is the rule for a challenge. It's a special one. If your opponent isn't satisfied or if this is your first time battling, you have to show your full power so that the teachers can tell you how to progress, you'll have to battle your challenger, and in this case, everyone is challenging you and you are bound to the challenge by the rule."

"No way. I can't. Even Arisa and Suzuka have to fight me?"

"Yeah. You against all of us." They replied.

"Sorry Nanoha-chan." Suzuka said.

"But you used limiters too!"

"But not as strong as you, plus they were already satisfied and didn't offer us the challenge. I tried telling you, didn't I?" Arisa sighed. "I read the rule book for class and school brawls,but you wouldn't listen. Time-Space Academy Battles."

"Hah… fine" Nanoha gave up and resigned herself. "When are we doing this?" Nanoha said suddenly becoming serious.

"U-uh… Yeah. Tomorrow, we don't have much class since it's a special day for the physical training and stuff, especially with the inter-school battles closing in." A student replied.

"2:00pm should do it, don't you think?" The teacher said, everyone agreeing.

"Alright then, everyone to your next class." The teacher said.

"Yes ma'am!"

' _Takamachi-sama, what are you three doing here? You aren't supposed to be seen by the public world. Why did our mistress agree to enroll them here?'_ Signum thought deeply and sighed. ' _You are after all…'_

 **A/N: Hello! Here is chapter 2.. i think it's not that ok, but tell me your thoughts on it... now... i gotta eat ma lunch. Ciao!**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hello peeps! I'm super sorry for this late one again… I've been very busy, caught conjunctivitis, had exams, we had something like a sports fest, our computer crashed and I didn't have a copy of this chapter anywhere else… I just got a boat-load of problems right now. Please forgive me, but… I got the next chapter planned, although I don't know when exactly to release it. I haven't really started much, but… anyways it's getting late, and although tomorrow's a holiday here in the Philippines, I still have to get to school cause my class is gonna do something in our room. Anyways, to those who are curious about Hayate, this doesn't really explain much, huh? Anyways, Enjoy!**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**

 **Chapter 3:**

" _Mou Yate-chan! Why can't I beat you?! I've been attacking you for at least 10 minutes and you blow me away with one spell!" A ten year old brunette with a side-ponytail complained to her friend._

" _Ahahaha… sorry." The person in question stated apologetically as she helped her friend up._

" _Nanoha-sama, I believe you've been taught this already, but the mistress was_ **born** _with natural magic, making her more powerful than normal. You, on the other hand, have somehow_ **developed** _natural magic, strangely enough, since the doctors thought that you would never be able to use any unlike everyone else on this planet. But anyway, that is the difference." A pinkette joined their conversation as she handed both girls a bottle of water._

" _Well, Signum's right for one thing, but Nano-chi, I think you'll be able to become stronger than me if you train. You can even surpass Ojii-san!"_

" _I do train! And don't call me Nano-chi!" Nanoha whined._

" _Alright, Alright. So cute, anyways… Again!" Hayate announced while suddenly flying towards Nanoha._

 _"Wait! That's not fair, I wasn't ready! Hayateee!"_

* * *

" _Hayate-chan, wait! Where are you going? Why didn't you tell me you were leaving." A slightly out of breath Nanoha cried, running after her friend who was about to board her plane._

 _Hayate simply turned to face Nanoha, eyes seemingly void of emotion. "Sorry, but I need to transfer to a special school and you can't be there." She said in a tone that Nanoha had never thought she'd hear from usually tender girl, who almost looking annoyed at being prevented from leaving._

" _Why?" Nanoha asked, tears flowing down her cheeks. Just a few months ago, they were training for an important expedition. They were going to join a tournament and become champions and all of a sudden, Hayate said she was leaving. She wasn't even going to graduate elementary here. "Why?" Nanoha asked again, pleading for an answer._

" _Just because…" Hayate answered coldly._

" _Yate…chan…."_

" _Sayonara… Nanoha."_

* * *

' _ **I'm so sorry'**_

* * *

" _Yagami-hime, I'm sure you are aware, but to remind you, we agreed that you must hide the powers you have inherited, correct? It will be dangerous for you if they discover your true identity. In order to hide and protect you and your precious identity, the school will be giving you a double limiter code." A man in a labcoat said._

" _What?"_

" _It is a limiter attached to you, but cannot be seen by the 'normal' and even averagely powered population. You'll always have this on you, but you can wear another limiter for fights." The man showed Hayate a device that once worn, would be concealed from other's eyes, but high-level mages like Hayate could sense faint traces of it, or even see it completely._

" _But won't that…"_

" _Don't worry. I know what you're thinking. I assure you that it won't contain your magic nor will it drain you too much. We know the effects of straining magic potential too much and the dangers to your health if ever your magic levels are exceedingly low. It might explode or turn into a magic beast or you can faint and die. This special limiter can release magic for your safety and it won't feed on your magic too much, I can at least promise you that. You and this girl will be the first users of our new product." He gestured to a girl coming out from the shadows._

" _Hi, I'm Fate." The girl said stepping into the light, her golden mane shimmering like precious stars. " It's nice to meet you," She grinned at Hayate, a strange glint present in her eyes. "I hope we get along well…"_

" _ **First Princess of the Kingdom of Belka, Yagami Hayate-hime.**_ _"_

* * *

The whole day after their physical Ed class, Nanoha couldn't concentrate on any of the lessons. During lunch, the three friends along with Fate sat together, soon to be joined by Hayate.

"Yo guys!" She greeted.

"Hi" Everyone, but Nanoha responded.

"What's with her?" Hayate asked as she sat down next to Fate, who sat across the trio.

"Dunno… been like that the whole time." Fate replied, while chewing on her sandwich.

"Oh that?" Suzuka asked, looking like she knew the answer. The other two turned to her waiting. "She's probably trying to figure out how to 'not' hurt everyone when we fight." Suzuka finished.

"And how is she supposed to do that?" Hayate asked like she just saw a horse barfing rainbows. "Mostly in this school's or in any tournament's battle system, you either have to empty their life gauge or magic reserve."

"By using binding spells, more or less." Arisa inserted while sipping her juice. "She did it in middleschool too."

"What? She can use that many? I thought only those high-level instructors could do that." Fate said.

"Well, apparently, she can do it too." Arisa answered.

"Can she really pull that off?" Hayate doubted, though she knew there was a high chance that it was possible.

"Well, it is Nanoha-chan, so… yeah, pretty much." Suzuka replied.

"Seriously…"

"What choice do I have?" Nanoha suddenly blurted out loudly, making everyone jump in surprise. Arisa spit out some of the juice she was drinking, while Hayate choked on her food.

"You were actually paying attention." Fate turned to her.

"Why wouldn't I?" Nanoha looked a bit confused. They were in the middle of discussing something, weren't they?

"But you looked so deep in thought so…" Hayate added after she recovered from her choking.

"You thought I wasn't paying attention?" Nanoha finished for them. They just nodded their heads in reply.

"Well, to be fair, I wasn't really listening to the first part, I just kinda caught on to what you guys were talking about." Nanoha answered their questions.

"How do you expect to win then?" Hayate asked. "Binding spells alone will just keep them in place. Not to mention, if they ever break out of the bind, you'll be in trouble. Obviously, concentrating on the binding strength will be harder if we're scattered." She finished, trying to see how Nanoha would overcome this hole in her plan.

"That may be true, but, I've already thought of a way, though it might be kind of hard. I can use a binding spell, or at least I customized one that can drain their powers just enough to make them a bit faint or weak, but…" Nanoha trailed off.

"You have to knock them out to win or make them unable to move, right?" Arisa said. Nanoha just nodded in reply.

"And, not to mention, if you drain their magic and energy too much, it will be a danger to their health." Hayate commented.

"Yeah… That's one of the things I'm worried about. So… I guess I'll have to use a bombardment spell without the draining part, huh?" Nanoha said thoughtfully, placing some food in her mouth while contemplating on something, probably how much power she should put into the spell.

"B-bombardment? I thought only a few students could use it?" _'Yeah right… and obviously, this act is getting tiring.'_ "The teacher had just started teaching this class the different types, but… can you all use it?" Hayate asked.

They nodded in reply.

"I can use it too, though rarely since I usually specialize in close range and hand-to-hand combat." Fate inserted.

"Really? I thought they were pretty easy to use, though I can't use those humungous ones Nanoha has. Just the small and **normal** sized ones." Arisa said.

"What do you mean by the way you say **normal**?!" Nanoha asked in a tone that sounded like she felt insulted. "I use normal! Using spells is always normal!"

"No, No… what I mean is like the normal size for a bombardment… you use things like this big, or this big or…" Arisa said stretching her arms wider and wider to emphasize her point.

"Ok ok… I get it." Nanoha said.

"The teacher even said it was only because you can't control your magic flow and put in too much."

"I SO can control my magic flow!" Nanoh argued. Arisa just raised her brow, not believing it even for a second. "I… i-improved on controlling my magic flow…" Nanoha added. _'She still has a hard time controlling it even after all these years, huh?'_ Hayate thought a chuckle erupting from her mouth.

"So basically, all three of you can use it, correct?" Hayate asked them.

"Un." They replied.

"Ok…" Hayate trailed off stuffing her mouth for a second. Everyone became silent, placing them in a not-so-uncomfortable silence, but still a bit awkward.

"Hmmm?" Nanoha, not receiving a response, dove back into her thoughts and just continued to chew on her food while Fate just stared at her for whatever reason, with her being oblivious to the gesture. Hayate, noticing this, tried to divert the blonde's attention to her.

"Fate…? Fate? Oi… earth to Fate. You listening?" Hayate waved her hand in front of a dazed blonde.

"Nanoha… eats so elegantly." She mumbled unconsciously, prompting surprised reactions from each person there.

"What the heck?" Arisa asked, turning to the others as if searching for a response. Suzuka just shrugged in return, but Hayate grinned like a kid who discovered where their mom hid the cookies for the tea party later.

"It must've been love~" She sang on impulse.

"What?" Arisa deadpanned. Nanoha still remained deep in thought.

' _Ah… we have discovered another dense idiot, it seems.'_ Hayate thought. She shared an understanding glance with Suzuka, which surprisingly, did not go unnoticed by Arisa who sent them a questioning look. _'I take it back… she's not that dense, I guess… and yet… maybe she is, though only towards matters regarding her own love life.'_ A sudden idea struck Hayate widening her mischievous grin. ' _Let's try this out, shall we?'_

"Na-No-Ha- Chan!" Hayate chirped with all the innocence and sweetness she could muster, successfully bringing Nanoha out of her reverie.

"What is it Haya-" Her question was cut off by a scene that unfolded too fast for her to process anything. She was sure she had felt Hayate kiss her cheek not even a second ago, but then why was Fate standing on Hayate in front of her while Hayate looked **seriously** hurt.

"Ahahaha… ha…ha. Well that was a bad idea" Hayate laughed through the pain.

"No friggin' kidding. Are you even ok?" Arisa looked a bit shaken, but not as shocked as Nanoha. Suzuka just giggled softly.

"Well, now that that has been confirmed…" Hayate stood up, brushing the dust from her skirt as if nothing happened and proceeding to return to her lunch.

"What… has been confirmed?" Fate asked, taking her seat once more beside her friend giving her a look that said 'what the heck are you even going on about while I'm experiencing whatever?'.

"Oh? Why the fact that you, my dear Fate, love Na- mmph"

"Na?" Arisa and Nanoha asked.

" **Tell her and I swear you're gonna get it."** Fate whispered in Hayate's ear, not bothering to deny the obvious. " **And I don't care if I have to remove this damn limiter to do it."** Hayate shivered and nodded her head. She had to let go of this… for now if she still wished to finish her lunch in one piece, but eventually get back to it. After all, she **was** Yagami Hayate.

"Na?" Nanoha repeated her question. Between Nanoha's pleading and curious eyes and Fate's ferocious glare, Hayate chose to be an obedient girl… for now.

"Nuggets. Fate loves nuggets." Hayate told Nanoha, feeling the restless burgundy-eyed girl beside her relax.

"Oh." Nanoha replied simply almost as if she was disappointed. She was pouting slightly, her cheeks puffed out while she chewed more thoroughly. "Oh." She repeated to herself.

"So cute." Hayate said aloud what Fate had been thinking at the moment, earning her a bop on the head.

"What?"

"Nothing." Fate turned away, choosing to chat with Arisa and Suzuka on their skills set and spells they used for fighting also about how they trained before they came to TSA.

While they were absorbed in their little chat, and Nanoha joining them and giggling as she recalled when Arisa had her first middleschool battle with the school's most popular delinquent and animatedly told Fate of when Arisa chained him to the wall for just looking at Suzuka and her, Hayate chose this time to be engrossed in her own thoughts.

' _Why do I have to pretend that I don't know you?'_ Hayate thought sparing Nanoha a tender glance as she continued to watch the group fondly. _'What did I do to make you forget about me? How long has it been Nanoha? Oh right… six years… You were forced to forget me in six years, huh? Well I guess it's for your safety as well that you don't know me. I sealed your memories after all. Still… how could you forget?'_ Hayate almost looked like she was gonna cry, but she couldn't let that happen right? She couldn't let it slip through her carefully built-up mask.

" _She didn't forget, Hayate-sama. She's just… not fully awake yet."_

" _Ari- Bannings-san? Did you just…?"_

" _Oi, oi, no need to be so formal. You don't need to pretend around me. And i_ _t_ _ **is**_ _my specialty, you know. It comes with my special skill set. Reading people and their minds and being able to open telepathic lines with them even if they don't accept or even if they're far from me. I can force myself into their thoughts. I thought you knew this already... **Hayate-sama?"**_

" _Ahaha… of course. Nothing less of a knight I hand-picked myself. You even managed to open a telepathic line, despite my barrier. I didn't think you could. Guess you've become stronger as well."_ Hayate said, remembering the reasons as to why she personally chose Arisa and Suzuka out of all the people who applied to be Nanoha's protectors. _Though, thinking back on that context, they were still pretty young. "The two of them sure have grown."_

" _Thinking in your thoughts? How odd. Ahaha… well, Suzuka and I did have the advantage on recommendation, Hayate-sama."_ Arisa read into Hayate's thoughts again.

" _Hey, hey… give me a bit of privacy here."_

" _So, now that we have the opportunity, can you explain to me the reason on why you agreed to allow us to school here?" Arisa changed the topic asking mostly out of curiosity, but also of concern. "You know you and Nanoha are banned from having contact ever since_ _ **that**_ _incident took place."_ She sounded worried. Hayate noticed she was looking over at her, careful to not get noticed by the other girls.

" _I have my reasons. But don't worry .It won't happen again._ _ **That**_ _incident won't ever happen again. I promise."_ She held out her pinky to Arisa who was quite far from her, but repeated the gesture.

 _"Promise..."_

* * *

2:00pm. Time for the battle. Well, it was supposed to be, if Nanoha wasn't so nervous to the point of trying to convince everyone to let her drop out at the last minute. "Please… we don't need to do this right?" Nanoha pleaded for the umpteenth time that afternoon. All the students out on the field were groaning, just waiting to get it over with.

"No. I thought you had already agreed to do this? After being smug and all, going… **"Very well"** and stuff." Arisa said, gesturing quotation marks with her hands.

"I don't remember going " **Very well."** and stuff! I just… ugh…" Nanoha repeated Arisa's action but slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

"Why are you so nervous anyway? It's just a small match. A test, to put it nicely." Arisa said.

"Well, I haven't actually been training my magic flow all that well and-"

"I knew it."

"Stop making me lose my self-confidence!"

"Just accept this as fate and get to it."

"But Arisa-chan… I might lose y'know!" _'Plus part of me feels like Hayate-chan will undo my bind sooner or later, though i don't know why it makes me feel so uneasy if i go along with this plan. It's almost as if it will backfire.'_

"So? It is a test of strength. Somebody's gotta lose and that might be you. But who knows? You might just blow as all away." Arisa dismissed any further arguments with the wave of a hand and walked back to where Suzuka was standing.

"Takamachi! Are you ready now?" Signum called out to the girl impatiently. The students were also beginning to get tired of it. "Hurry up or we'll never finish!"

"Y-yes."

"Ugh Finally!" Everyone sighed, all of the commotion was resolved.

"Alright then class, let's explain the rules before we start." Signum said as the official referee for the battle. "One, no dirty tactics." She eyed those students who were more likely to use them and gave them a good warning glare. "Two, you are allowed to attack at the same time, just be careful you don't accidentally hit your allies. That would just be stupid." Everyone cringed at the thought of Signum-sensei calling them stupid. It was a famous saying in school that they'd rather be called worthless by the principal than stupid by Signum. "Third, no fatal spells such as ultimates that can harm both caster and victim. I know I already explained to you about ultimates and I don't want to do it again. Fourth, if you are low on energy magic and health points, and cannot recover, stop fighting immediately. We don't need any battered students to tire out our school nurse."

"Signum-sensei's just saying that 'cause she's concerned of Shamal-sensei!" A certain chestnut haired girl's voice rang.

"Yeah!" The students echoed.

"Ah… really? So you wouldn't mind going now?" Signum chuckled darkly releasing an aura that could only be described as deadly.

" _ **Gomenasai."**_

"Good. Now everyone, transform or whatever and get ready to battle."

"…whatever? Geez… ain't that harsh." A student, Mr. 7th in class, complained.

"Huh?" Signum looked to see who said that, seeing only obedient students who transformed into their fighting gear.

"Oh and before we start, my last and final rule… Respect. Don't forget to respect your opponents. Never underestimate what they can do because you never know when you've lost the battle." She looked serious, well not like she wasn't always looking serious, but it seemed that these words weighed a bit heavier than the rest. Everyone readily agreed, taking the advice.

With everything set, Signum as the referee and Nanoha remembering not to wear a limiter- well actually being caught trying to sneak in a limiter- the battle began.

* * *

To change the setting up a bit, the group had decided to change it up a bit and do a free brawl, allowing them to use a nearby forest as their battle grounds. They could position themselves anywhere with anyone, but could not exceed the borders that the administrators had set up for the test.

Nervously, Nanoha set foot in a small open area in the woods, unknowingly triggering a sensor that a group of students had set up to find her in the wide battle grounds. Sensing that she might have been found, she did a complete turn to change her direction, accidentally passing the borders without realizing it and uncovered a small cave that was well hidden in the forest. Surprisingly enough, the cave was lit up and had all sorts of security-type technology filling the vast space. Nanoha looked around, only to find that this place was full of screens showing the tight surveillance in the forest. She approached one of the monitors and watched as everyone huddled up together, or set traps for her. She realized that this was going to be trickier than she expected.

"Who are you!" A voice suddenly yelled causing Nanoha to back up from the computer. "What are you doing here and how did you find this place? You intruders… you shouldn't be in this part of the fore- Nanoha-sama?" Nanoha, surprised at the strange yet somehow familiar voice speaking her name , squinted to see the figure standing at the dark end of the cave. Her eyes went wide and her mind ran a mile a minute at the sight before her. She was dreaming, right?

"S-s-schach-san? What are you… aren't you… huh?" Nanoha clutched her head, shutting her eyes and crouching on the cold earth while something-memories- they were flowing into her like a strong current. "What…" Schach tried to reach out to the hurting girl-

"Sister Schach, what's the problem? Have you confused another squirrel for a human being or are you just hoping to get an intruder to practice on?" Another, a more gentle voice entered Nanoha's ears.

"Carim Gracia…" The name unconsciously slipped through Nanoha's lips as she didn't even bother to lift her head and look to know who that voice belonged to. Why were they here? Just how long had it been since she saw them? Weren't they supposed to be- just like everyone Nanoha cared about… they were supposedly- Wait does she even know these people? How and why-

"Nanoha-ch- sama?" The one who was named Carim corrected herself. "Why are you… how… Schach?" She turned to the other woman in the place with a questioning face. She was met with the same expression and a shrug of the shoulders. They decided to approach the girl, who was still trying to recover from the sudden headache that blocked off all her senses. A light shone in the woman- Carim's hand as she touched Nanoha's forehead making the girl visibly show relief from the pain.

"Th-thanks." Nanoha muttered as she struggled to open her heavy eyelids. Somehow, they just felt so… heavy.

"Nanoha-sama, please sleep now. We'll explain everything…ter…go…ight." Was all she heard before surrendering her consciousness to the depths of sleep.

* * *

"…ma, …noha-sa… Nanoha-sama. Wake up. You should really get back to your school soon."

"…mmmm… five more minutes…"

"Nanoha-sama, it's really getting late and it's dark out. If you don't go soon, people will worry about you."

"Don't worry, the dorms aren't closed till ten at night, Cari-… Carim?!" Nanoha sat up abruptly from where she was lying. Carim and Schach seemed to have moved her to a room with a futon laid out and let her sleep awhile. _'Wait, Carim and Schach?!'_ Nanoha groaned remembering the reasons for her deep sleep and also remembering that she was supposed to be in a battle right now. She looked to see Carim seated on a chair by a desk full of what looked like research papers and other experiments. Schach was probably somewhere else in the cave Nanoha assumed.

"Carim?" The newly awakened girl questioned her… what was Carim to her again? Oh right. Carim and Schach used to watch over Nanoha when she and… who was it? were children. They had been their teachers and usually watched over them when their parents weren't home.

"Yes?" The older lady replied facing Nanoha fully.

"What time is it?" was the first thing that sunk into Nanoha's mind. How long had she been asleep anyway?

Carim looked at her watch "Hmmm… a little bit past 9:00pm, why?" She asked, though her face told Nanoha that she knew all too well.

"The dorms' curfew! The battle?" Nanoha just directed the question at Carim, like she would know what to answer.

She did. "Well, you disappeared right in the middle of everything and the time ran out. When everyone was called to assemble, the teachers seemed frantic when they couldn't find you around." Carim relayed the scenes she had seen unfold from their surveillance system.

"Ugh… Signum-sensei's gonna kill me." Nanoha visibly shivered at the thought of an angry Signum. She also thought of how worried her new friends and her guardians- Arisa and Suzuka- since when had they become her guardians?! Her eyes widened.

"Oh? You remembered another thing again, Nano-chi? Just try to take everything in one at a time. You might faint again. Y'know, that loose spell was hard to completely remove. I guess she was right, your body was unconsciously ridding you of the spell cast on you." Carim placed a hand under her chin thoughtfully.

"Don't call me Nano-chi! and what are you talking about? A spell? My body getting rid of it? Carim please explain it to me! And why do I strangely remember Suzuka and Arisa as my personal bodyguards instead of my best friends?" Nanoha fumed, saying all that in just one breath, which surprised even herself.

"Calm down, Nanoha-chan. I can't believe that even if you didn't remember, you still react to that name. Anyway, I can't explain everything right now, you'll probably remember it bit by bit, but I can't burden your mind with these memories yet. You won't be able to handle it if I do." Carim just smiled mysteriously making Nanoha frown at the vague answer. Carim giggled _'She hasn't changed one bit'_ "But...I guess I can spare you a bit of information…" Nanoha just looked at her curiously.

* * *

Walking back to the dorms was no easy task. Nanoha couldn't seem to concentrate on following the private path Carim had taught her to get back to the school grounds. What Carim told her was quite heavy, so much so that she felt like she was still imagining all of it.

" _ **Suzuka and Arisa were privately and personally chosen to be your attendants when you were four years old. They both came from families that have served your's for generations." Carim took a sip of the tea that Schach brought to them a little while after Carim had decided to tell Nanoha a bit of her past.**_

" _ **Huh? What do you mean? Stop joking around, Carim. I may remember you as a teacher, but just how important is my family that we would be guarded by elite people?" Nanoha laughed it off, but she felt strange. Was everything always like this?**_

" _ **Nanoha… you transferred into the dorms yesterday, right? Your friends, especially this girl Hayate, told you to, right? Almost insisting even." Carim looked a bit different, she just had this blank look on her face which made it impossible for Nanoha to guess what was going on through her mind.**_

" _ **Yeah?" Nanoha didn't like where this was going.**_

" _ **Nanoha-chan, I hope you're ready for this, but… your family…they are all…"**_

" _Nanoha… stay alive for… me"_

" _ **Ah!" It burned… her memories were engulfed with fire and debris.**_

" _Papa! Mama! Kyouya-nii! Neechan!"_

 _ **Tears cascaded down her cheeks as her head began to throb wildly once more.**_

" _ **Nanoha?! Oh no… see this is why I shouldn't have told you." Carim rushed to Nanoha's side, quickly kneeling down. "Nanoha dear, please try to focus. Focus on me, focus only on me and my voice and the pain will go away." The soothing sound of Carim's voice was convincing enough for Nanoha and she slowly felt the relief.**_

" _ **Thanks again, but Carim if… you know, what you said is true, then… who exactly… am I?" Nanoha asked as Carim dried the tears from her eyes. Footsteps could be heard rushing outside. Schach probably heard all the commotion and rushed to help Carim.**_

" _ **Nanoha, when you arrive at the dorms, tell Arisa 'I remember' and I promise that she will explain everything. If she's not around, go to Suzuka and she'll know who to ask, but for now. I want you to sit here while I fully remove this stubborn spell." Carim said as she got to work.**_

* * *

After walking for what seemed like eternity, Nanoha found a clearing, well technically she found herself back at the school's humungous field where what looked like a search party was going on.

"Nanoha-chan? Nanoha-chan!" The first person to spot her was her ever faithful and kind attendant who would sometimes spoil her- Suzuka. ' _It still feels strange to look at them that way, though. Remembering all this is such a hassle.'_ Nanoha covered up her messed up thoughts with a smile on her face.

"What's with the jumbled up thoughts?" Arisa asked with a smirk. Usually, Nanoha would be amazed at Arisa's accuracy at reading her expressions or guessing her mood, but after that little chat with Carim, she remembered something about her friends that was important in a sense. _'Right… she can force her way into my thoughts."_

" _Oh? And how did you figure that out?"_

Nanoha jumped in surprise as Arisa raised a brow at the weird reaction. "Did you just…"

"Takamachi! Thank goodness you're alright. We don't know what happened, but you suddenly disappeared and we were just so, so worried." Signum said, relief washing over her. Several other classmates and staff came to join them and soon the commotion died down and Nanoha found herself lying in her bed in the room she shared with Arisa and Suzuka. _**"Tell Arisa."**_ Carim's last reminder rang in her head. Nodding to herself, she flipped on the switch in their room hearing a groan come from across it.

"Nanoha… what the hell?" She heard Arisa complain. "Listen, I'm tired and all, so if you need to eat a midnight snack, then go fatten up by yourse-"

"I remember Arisa-chan." Arisa fell from her bed while Suzuka immediately got up and approached Nanoha.

"What… did you just say?" Arisa asked now fully awake.

" **I remember."**

" **Tch… Carim, huh? Alright then… where do I even begin…"**

 **A/N: SO… that's just how it is… Something has been revealed about Nanoha, and before you even go, But the first chapter everyone in Nanoha's family sent her off, well that'll be explained in the next chapter, unlike the friggin' stressing Gakkou Gurashi where I cried since I realized that Megu-nee is just another dream for Yuki… T-T WHY?! Anyway, to all those who reviewed and continued to support, I can't really express how thankful I am, but you can be sure I'm pretty darn happy. I can't mention everyone yet… I'm really supposed to be tucked in my warm bed by this time, but… Good night anyways… See you in the next chapter. Don't forget to leave a review please!**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow! So much for not having inspiration. I wrote the last 5 pages of this straight! In an hour! Thank you for all the support guys! This story has reached 1, 128 views! If we could reach 1,200 it'd be a great help. Now for the reviews… I don't usually input them in my author's note as I usually reply to them through pm, but hey! I do it every once in a… orange moon since the moon right now is orange. Philippines! Baka may bagyong darating! Now first…**

 **Stars1-san: Not really sure about the love triangle thing, but I'll see what I can do.**

 **RatedAnggie-san: I was expecting one too, but apparently my brain said 'screw it let's change the story plot!' Just like it changed my script for my project in English. Sorry 'bout that… really.**

 **UhyoKage: Yeah… sorry I didn't go on with the anticipated fight. Maybe next time? Here's a bit of NanoHaya information… not pairing ok? Just info in this chappie! Lucky you!**

 **Lecoj03: Yeah… school's kind of a pain… I've got exams coming up too. T-T**

 **Reka Takamachi-san: Yeah… I'm curious about her past too… Truth be told guys I haven't planned what goes beyond this chapter… I'll see what I can pull out of my head.**

 **That's all Enjoy! I need to go to school at 6am tomorrow… it's 10 pm… Work wonders…**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**

 **Now Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the story… the story.**

 **Chapter 4: Remembering**

Fifteen years ago, in the kingdom of the sea, a girl was born. She had chestnut hair and cobalt eyes, just like her mother. You could say she was a clone of her mother, but had the hardheadedness of her father. She was the only sibling that actually resembled her mother, perfectly at that. This girl lived a happy life with her family, but… this girl was no ordinary girl. She was…

 _ **A princess.**_

* * *

"Nanoha! Wake up! I can't believe this is happening aga-" Miyuki, Nanoha's sister who was waking her up, suddenly disappeared. It was if she was just a holograph. Who am I kidding? She is one.

Hi I'm Nanoha Takamachi. I'm fifteen years old and despite what has been going on for the past few… weeks? Months? Well surprise, surprise.

I live alone.

You may ask 'why?' or 'didn't you have a family last time?' Well the answer is no. I thought I had a family too, until just recently, or to be more specific, yesterday. Apparently, as Arisa explained to me, I haven't been with my family for years. I lost my family and am repeatedly lying to myself that they are still with me by using magical holographs and copies of them.

Not that I did that with my own knowledge, of course.

Apparently, I'm only supporting a system set up by someone- Arisa won't tell me who- that leaves me unaware that I am feeding it bits of my magic- not too much, just a safe amount-, well only when I'm actually in the house. Without me in it, the program shuts down. As for my budgets and allowance, someone pays for it, but I don't know who that person is either. And most probably they're not my family.

Pretty sad, huh? Well, I've gotten over it; the fact that I might never find them again.

'Find' them? Yeah… I know they are still alive. It's not that I'm clinging to some chance, I feel it. I know it. Well except for…

Anyway, while I'm preparing for school at home since I ran out of the dorms last night to collect myself, why don't I share to you who exactly is Takamachi Nanoha.

* * *

" _Mama, mama! Look! Look! I look just like you!" Three year old Nanoha told her mama while wearing a matching dress like hers._

" _Yes you do, my little princess." Takamachi Momoko replied as she kissed her daughter on the forehead. Suddenly a trumpet sounded through the city, reaching the castle._

" _Hear ye! People of the Kingdom of the Sea! I present to you, Belka's King, Sir Yagami Shuuichiro III, her highness Yagami Hayami and Belka's finest young lady, First princess Yagami Hayate. They have come to make peace with your kingdom!" A messenger ran through the gates with his announcement._

" _Come Nanoha." Momoko said smiling. "Let's go meet them, shall we? I'm sure your papa is waiting for us."_

" _But mama…"_

" _Come on now." She carried Nanoha and nuzzled her nose. "We need to be nice to our friends." Momoko said as they went to greet their visitors._

* * *

" _Welcome Shuuichiro-sama!" Takamachi Shiro greeted a man with brown hair and sparkling blue eyes._

" _Oi,oi! No teasing like that, Shiro." The man laughed as he hugged Shiro tightly._

" _Long time no see, my good friend. How are you? I see you have a little child of your own, huh? Finally moved on from Momoko?" Shiro laughed as the other responded by blushing profusely._

" _Haha I see. Well you have a lovely wife, don't you? It's nice to see you again Hayami." Shiro bowed to the graceful lady standing by._

" _Nice to see you too… And don't ask. I'm over you." She replied smiling._

" _Hahaha… well isn't that nice. Still, your daughter is a beauty, though she seems to have taken after Shuuichiro here." Shiro commented as he offered his hand to the little girl beside Hayami so that she would take it._

" _Hi there. I'm your parents' friend, Shiro. It's very nice to meet you." Shiro smiled when the little girl took his finger and shook it._

" _I'm Hayate and I love my friends!" The little girl exclaimed, returning the smile._

" _Oh? Really now… Would you like to make some new ones then? I have children who I know would love to meet you. Not to mention a little girl your age."_

" _Papa, you needed us for something?" As if on cue, a boy, about 12 years of age, who looked like an exact replica of Shiro entered along with a girl with the same hair color and characteristics similar to her father._

" _Oh! Kyouya and Miyuki. perfect timing. Hayate-chan, I want you to meet my kids, Kyouya and Miyuki. They're a bit older than you, but they are still your friends." The two came nearer and upon seeing the little girl, Miyuki's eyes sparkled._

" _HI! You're a cute little thing aren't you? I'm Miyuki. Call me Miyuki-nee. This is Kyouya, my older brother._

" _Miyuki… neechan, Kyouya-niichan?"_

" _Hai?" Miyuki responded attentively, squealing at how her name was said. She began playing with the little princess of Belka._

" _Hmmm… Now only if Momoko was here, we'd be complete. I bet she's bringing little-"_

" _Shiro! Sorry we're a bit late. Nanoha got so shy and didn't want to meet everyone." Momoko entered the room with a little bundle in her arms._

" _Nanoha! That's rude you know. Now…." The bundle shook in her arms._

" _A-ah! It's ok. Haha, she must be a cute little thing. It's nice to see y-you again, Momoko. You're still as beautiful as ever." Shuuichiro greeted._

" _My, What are you saying when you have such a beauty as your wife, Shuu-kun? But thank you all the same." Momoko smiled warmly at the man then turned to the other woman in the room._

" _Hayami-chan!" Momoko ran to get a hug from her bestfriend, careful not to squish the bundle of sheets in her arms. "Long time no see. It's sooo nice to be able to hug you again. Hahaha."_

" _Hai, hai. I've missed you too." Hayami laughed as she hugged her bestfriend back. Pulling away, but keeping an arm around Momoko's waist she asked, "And who is this cute little bundle?" Hayami smiled, trying to take a peek at who was hiding in the blankets. "Another clone of Shiro? That man… his genes are too strong, I tell you." Hayami laughed._

" _Actually…"_

" _Come out now dear, I won't bite." Hayami coaxed. Little by little, the blanket started to be removed and two shining sapphire eyes stared back at her. The little bundle spoke. "H-hello… It's n-nice to meet you."_

 _Hayami, overwhelmed by the little bundle of cuteness, took her from Momoko and squealed. "My! Aren't you a sweet child? What's your name dear?"_

" _N-nanoha." She replied, blushing. She wasn't used to getting this much attention, especially from strangers._

" _Well then Nanoha, I am Hayami. I'm your mama's bestfriend." She hugged Nanoha close relishing the moment. "Kyaa!"_

" _What's the fuss Haya-" Shuuichiro, curious over his wife's squeals, approached but was cut off by the sight of the child._

" _Let me hold her." He said, though it was more of a command than a request._

" _No"_

" _But!"_

" _Ummm… mama who is that?" Hayate had escaped Miyuki's clutches and tugged on her mother's dress._

" _This is your child?" Momoko asked thrilled. "I think they'll get along just fine."_

" _Nanoha dear, " Momoko called. "Come meet your friend." Nanoha asked to be placed down next to Hayate._

" _K-konnichiwa. I'm Nanoha."_

" _Nano-chi huh?"_

" _Nano-chi?" The girl found it weird to be called that. She wasn't used to being called that. None of her friends on the castle grounds ever called her that. So why was this person she just met calling her something so overly familiar._

" _I'm Hayate. Call me Yate-chan."_

" _Hayate-san." Nanoha responded._

" _Yate-chan" Hayate smiled brightly._

" _Hayate-chan?"_

" _Ya-Te-Chan." She said emphasizing each syllable. "Though that's pretty cool, but still."_

" _Yagami-san?"_

" _ **.CHAN**_ _and how do you even know my last name?!" Hayate cried out._

" _Yate-chan?"_

" _Yeah?" Hayate's eyes sparkled._

" _I heard the messenger say it."_

 _While the two little girls conversed, their mothers were thinking of how odd their daughters seemed. "You know Momoko… for a three year old, your daughter seems oddly smart for her age. Formal too. I can see Hayate getting annoyed." Hayami stated both in amusement and wonder. "She wants all her friends to be close with her. She dislikes distant people… yet… she's also quite distant. Even I can't tell what that three-year old is thinking."_

" _Yeah… somehow she's just a bit on the oddly mature side." Momoko agreed. "I wonder how she got like that. Your daughter seems smart too… like they're geniuses or something?" They both were silent while staring at each other, seemingly considering the idea._

" _Pfffttt… No way! Hahaha." The two women laughed it off as a joke._

" _Mama, mama!" Little Nanoha and Hayate suddenly ran and bumped into their mothers with a soft thump._

" _Yes?"_

" _We just saw something outside the window!" Nanoha looked strangely worried, rather than excited._

" _What did you see, dears? A bird? An insect?" Hayami smiled at the two children._

" _No… There are men- a lot of them… and I think they are trying to climb the wall, mama." Hayate explained. The two women's smiles immediately dropped, suddenly realizing what this meant._

" _Shiro! The gates!" Momoko shouted from across the room. The man in question turned to her as she was frantically pointing at the window. Before he could even get near the window-_

"Takamachi-san! Are you paying any attention at all?" Nanoha's physics teacher, professor Nakajima Genya tried getting her attention. "This is the part you find hard after all." He said worriedly. "Is there something bothering you?" He asked.

"N-no sir. I'm sorry, please continue with your lesson. I'm all ears." Nanoha replied.

"I hope you are…" He returned his attention to the blackboard as her wrote a few things. From across the room, Nanoha could see out of the corner of her eye Hayate giving her a worried look. She quickly mouthed an 'I'm fine' to her before focusing her eyes on the board.

'Huh? Wasn't the girl just now?' Nanoha felt a small head ache, but decided to ignore it for now.

Later during lunch, Fate had approached Nanoha and asked her if she was feeling well. Nanoha just responded with her usual 'Nyahaha' and lied saying that she might just be tired. Well it was partly true. She was tired… of life that is.

"Yo Nanoha-sam- Nanoha." Arisa greeted her. Nanoha had insisted it when Arisa and Suzuka first got hired that they were not to call her Nanoha-sama or anything of that sort. She had told them time and time again that 'Nanoha' was just fine.

Nanoha remained unresponsive.

"Oi, oi… at least acknowledge or presence or something… or do you not notice us? Alright then… Nanoha- _sama_ … how 'bout-" Arisa suddenly felt pain on her left ear, "O-ow…owowow… N-nanoha! That hurts." She cried as Nanoha pinched her ear.

"Ah! Sorry Arisa-chan. What did I just do?" Nanoha asked releasing her ear.

"What the heck? Are you on autopilot or something? Hah… I was gonna ask if you wanted to go back to the dorms with Suzuka and me. We had a bed transferred in just in case." Arisa sighed.

"Why? Can't you two just sleep together?"

"W-wh-wha… what are you implying?" Arisa blushed profusely. Of course we can't!"

'Although I'm pretty sure Suzuka-chan would be overjoyed at that proposition.' Nanoha thought as she shook her head.

"What are you shaking your head for?" Arisa asked her curiously.

"Nothing important."

"Anyway, we need to talk." Arisa suddenly took hold of Nanoha's arm. "Suzuka's waiting for us at some café, so how 'bout we head over there right now?"

"Okay…" Nanoha replied solemnly.

* * *

 _The bell pattern for 'under attack' was ringing wildly all around. Shiro turned to the window. A few enemy troops had breached the wall and he could see all his subjects running for their lives._

" _Momoko! Hayami! Shuuichiro! Get the children out safely!" Shiro commanded taking a ring out of his pocket. "I'll try to shield as much of the city as I can!"_

" _No Shiro! You are not a magic user and you know it! That ring I gave you can only do so much! Let me help you." Shuuichiro said._

" _It is MY kingdom and I will protect it. Now go… bring the children to safety." Shiro said activating the ring and creating a small barrier around the whole kingdom._

" _Go since we don't have much time." He told the lingering people. "GO!" His voice bellowed. "We don't have much ti-" Everyone just watched in horror as a magically enhanced arrow pierced right through the man's chest._

" _Papa! Nanoha screamed, her sapphire eyes suddenly turning vividly red, the color of fresh blood. The area around her seemed to shake. Hayate, the poor child, seeing her new friend slowly slumping against the wall turning to her smiling._

" _It was nice meeting you… ugh… little Hayate. Take care of Nanoha for me okay? I love you a..ll…"_

 _In an instant that no one could remember, Hayate suddenly reacted to Nanoha's phenomenon as her eyes turned into the same shade as Nanoha's, the intensity of the shaking adding up._

" _Hayate! Nanoha!" Shuuichiro tried to reach for both children, but was hit with a piece of concrete that fell from the ceiling, trapping his leg underneath._

 _The outburst of both little girls seemed to go on, but then suddenly stopped as they saw Momoko standing behind the two, a sad smile on her face. She had knocked both girls down during all the chaos._

" _Here… she handed the two little girls to Hayami. Take them now please. She told the woman who was still shielding the two older children. "Please Hayami." Momoko helped Shuuichiro out and got him free from the debris. Luckily he wasn't that harmed._

" _Shall we go?" She asked, but then was suddenly glowing. Shiro's body in the corner was also glowing mysteriously, as were Kyouya and Miyuki. The only one who wasn't glowing was little Nanoha, who lay passed out in Hayami's arms._

" _Ah… I guess it's time. But… Nanoha… I guess we're leaving her here with you then. Please take care of her Hayami. Tell her I love her- no rather… please erase her memories of this event, erase her memories of me." Momoko smiled sadly, as she caressed her child's cheek._

" _Momoko? Time for what? What are you saying? I can't do that to the child? Momoko? Momoko!" And just like that they suddenly vanished, leaving a sleeping Nanoha with Hayami. "What should I do…"_

"What should I do? I haven't received my salary yet, Nanoha…" Arisa whined. I wonder when they're gonna pay us, right Suzuka?" She turned to the other guardian.

"Yes… it seems to be a bit late this month. Nanoha-chan, has your allowance arrived?" Suzuka mildly interrogated.

"No, at least I don't think so. Why?"

"Arisa-chan, do you think the agency is having a problem?"

"Well the only way to find out is Carim, though she called me and told me not to go to her yet." Arisa said.

"By the way Arisa-chan, why'd you take me out here again?" Nanoha diverted the subject from money to more important things, in her opinion that is.

"Oh right… well you see, sister Schach called me about a few things."

"Sister… Schach…?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes… The woman you met in the cave. The one with short hair, she said that you recognized her when she came out." Arisa explained.

"Who's that?" Nanoha asked until she remembered. "Oh! The one with Ms…. C-carmen? Caren? Camir?"

"Carim?"

"Yeah! Carim. So, what about her?"

"I just said you recognized her. How? Your memories were rigged, right? So how?" Arisa looked serious.

"Well… that is… I just knew." Nanoha replied honestly.

"Just knew, huh… well that doesn't help us much." Arisa sighed into her hands.

"Sorry."

"I-it's ok! Nanoha, it's not your fault. I'm just a bit tired…"

"Hehe… aren't we all." Nanoha said, recalling her little statement from earlier. "Anyway, why are my memories rigged again?" Nanoha turned to Suzuka, knowing that Arisa wouldn't even dream of telling her. The polite girl could only smile ruefully at her as she shook her head.

"Ah Come on! Why can't you guys just tell me? That would solve the problem faster, wouldn't it?" Nanoha scratched her head, perplexed at the situation. Why couldn't they just tell her what happened so that they could piece all of this togeth-

"AH!" Nanoha suddenly remembered something, albeit vaguely.

"What's wrong, Nanoha-chan?" Suzuka asked worriedly.

"Last night… I had a dream, something near to what Arisa-chan told me about my past, my family, it's just that…"

"Hmmm?"

"There was another family… and this girl. We were together… she looked just like, she was… AGH!" Nanoha felt a painful jolt in her head. "Arisa-chan, Suzuka-chan! It hurts…" She screamed as tears began to well up in those usually cheerful orbs.

"Help… me…" She cradled her aching head.

"Nanoha-chan!" Suzuka reacted first and knelt beside Nanoha as her legs gave out. "Nanoha-chan, listen to my voice and only my voice… concentrate on it…"

"I… c-can't… help…" Nanoha continued to cry. Arisa could only watch in horror as Suzuka did her best to stop it… to stop Nanoha's pain, her suffering. Arisa just stood there... frozen.

* * *

" _Arisa… can I… tell you something?"_

" _Yes Yagami-sama?"_

" _I know you are still young. You are but what- 10? Still, I need at least one of you to know, and I don't think Suzuka is the best for this task." Shuuichiro smiled solemnly. "I don't mean that she is weak. No not at all, in fact, she is very… very strong. It's just that you have the conditions needed to fulfill this task and the talent is in you. If I train you now, young as you are, the chances of it being successful are higher." He slowly unfolded his motives before the child._

" _She is your emotional anchor, right?" He suddenly stated, smiling as he ruffled Arisa's hair. "You've been together since your family… was… lost, right?" He tried to word it carefully. Arisa didn't need to be genius to know who this 'She' was._

 _Arisa could only nod in response._

" _I'm sorry… I don't really know how to approach you on that topic."_

" _You don't really need to sugarcoat your word, sir." Arisa replied staring off into nothingness. "I've accepted it long ago, as it is." She whispered. The older man just looked down._

" _Anyway, Suzuka may act strong, but you are more stable than her. I'm sure you'll know what to do. Nanoha… she has to lose her memories of us soon. Of Hayate too, of how her parents and family disappeared… we want her to live a normal life. You've seen her when she's depressed. She and Hayate suddenly…" He buried his face in his hands._

" _And what task would you like me to fulfill?" Arisa asked._

" _I know it's inevitable that Nanoha will remember. Not now, but soon and when she does, the seal on her memories will desperately try to stay locked. It will cause her a lot of pain and this task… might cost you a lot of pain too, but only you can do it. If done properly, you will only feel drained, but no danger or complications will affect your lifestyle. However, if you do one step wrong… are you still willing to accept this mission?"_

" _Yes sir."_

 _The man looked up. "Are you sure?"_

" _I have… nothing to lose, sir."_

" _Alright. Let's begin."_

"Suzuka! Step away from Nanoha now." Arisa commanded. Her voice was firm allowing no arguments. Suzuka stepped away reluctantly. "Now… I need you to call Fate right now and get her here as fast as possible, but…" Arisa paused for a moment.

"Yes? _"_

"Make sure Hayate doesn't come near here." _I'm sorry Yagami-sama._

"Now…" Arisa muttered turning to the problem at hand. She closed her eyes and focused her power on the hand resting atop Nanoha's sweaty forehead. "Excuse me for a bit Nanoha… I'll be invading your thoughts for a sec… pardon the intrusion." Arisa whispered as she chanted an incantation and brought her lips to Nanoha's forehead in a soft kiss. 'Just hope Suzuka doesn't catch me doing this, It'd be really embarrassing.'

~o~

" _ **Nanoha… can you hear my voice?"**_

" _ **A…ri…sa-chan?"**_

" _ **Yeah… sorry for intruding on your… personal area."**_

" _ **No it's fine… huh? I… don't feel the pain as much anymore… what did you just…"**_

" _ **Just relax for moment and leave everything to me. For now, just listen to Fate's voice and concentrate on that only, okay?"**_

" _ **Fate-chan's… voice?! What…"**_

" _ **Thanks Nanoha."**_

" _ **Arisa-chan?"**_

* * *

Nanoha woke up to a pleasant sight. Fate was beside her, palms engulfed in light while singing a song, eyes tightly shut.

"I'm awake now, Fate-chan." She smiled.

"Ah! Good morning, Nanoha! Are you feeling better?" Fate asked concern written all over her beautiful features.

"Yes I'm fine, but…" Nanoha looked around. She was in Arisa and Suzuka's dorm room. "How long have I been out and where are Suzuka and Arisa? Speaking of Arisa…"

"Well…" Fate rubbed at the back of her neck nervously. "You've been out for about three days. Suzuka is out buying groceries. Said that the budget and their salary came in yesterday, As for Arisa…" Fate trailed off unsure how to put it. "She's been in the school's clinic for the same number of days as you've been out."

"What?!" Nanoha was genuinely shocked. "Why?"

"After you had that… 'incident', Arisa seemed to be casting some kind of spell. Even I didn't know what it was. Though the doctor said it took quite a toll on her body. She's drained Nanoha… Magically and physically."

"Can I go see her?" Nanoha looked hopeful.

"Yeah… sure I guess. Oh here let me help you get up." Fate approached Nanoha taking a wheel chair with her. Nanoha looked at her questioningly. Arisa left Suzuka a note apparently saying in case this happens, you might need one cause… you might not be able to walk yet." Fate explained.

"What? I so can-" Nanoha tried getting up, but ended up falling forward almost hitting herself on the table. However, Fate was faster.

"I told you didn't I?" Fate whispered softly into her ear, her warm breath tickling Nanoha's lobe. "Let me help you." Nanoha knew her face looked like a traffic light signaling stop by now and just nodded dumbly.

"Good!" Fate flashed her a toothy grin. "Now get on and let's go m'lady!"

* * *

Suzuka was back in the clinic after running her errands. She brought the groceries with her, not wanting to disturb Nanoha and Fate's moment together by stopping by to give them groceries, so she decided to go straight back to Arisa's side.

'That's right… Where I belong the most… By her side.'

Suzuka pulled a chair and sat down next to the sleeping figure's bed. Although she was fast asleep, her face showed signs of exhaustion. 'Who knew it was this dangerous?' Suzuka sighed, reaching her hand out to cup the blonde's cheek while the other reached to intertwine their hands.

"I'm sorry, Arisa. I overheard everything, but didn't do anything. I couldn't do anything." Suzuka admitted to the sleeping girl, recalling that day many years ago when the boss had called Arisa over for an urgent meeting.

 _A young Suzuka stood idly by as she realized she had accidentally walked in on a private conversation._

"… _one of you to know, and I don't think Suzuka is the best for this task." That line hurt Suzuka a bit. Was she that unreliable?_

"… _don't mean that she is weak. No not at all, in fact, she is very… very strong." She felt relief when she heard this._

"… _Suzuka may act strong, but you are more stable than her. I'm sure you'll know what to do." From what Suzuka could decipher, she realized Arisa had been called because she was not ready to take this on. Arisa had a greater chance to succeed in this and all Suzuka could do was support her._

' _ **I will be her anchor.'**_

* * *

Arisa was painfully aware of how long her eyes had been shut. They felt like they would never open again…Though, it was kind of hard to satiate the curiosity that hung in the corners of her mind when she felt a soft hand caress her cheek. She sighed in bliss.

"Thanks." She uttered to no one in particular. She heard a gasp, a chair skidding on the floor and the contact with her face disappeared. She frowned, already missing the contact and the warmth it brought.

But just as soon as it left , the contact returned, this time though, in the form of a bone-crushing hug. The corners of Arisa's lips tipped upward as she managed to open one eye.

"Good morning to you too Suzuka." She smiled at the teary-eyed girl.

"Baka…"

 **A/N: And! I ended it with an AriSuzu moment! Nice? Was it? Maybe not… meh tell me what you guys think if you would be so kind to leave a review. Thanks in advance. Signing off since I have to be in school at 6 am and it's 10:06 pm. Bye**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh My flip! I just got a lot of idea for this chapter, somehow. Ahhh…. I didn't mean to end it like I did, but I just went with the flow and ended up like that. I feel like it's a bad way to end my chapter. Please read and review and tell me what you think. oh right! Reviews and some characters are coming out in this chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Naru-san: Again like all you peeps who are looking for a NanoHayaFate love triangle, I'll try seeking an opportunity for that. Thanks by the way.**

 **UhyoKage: Welcome, though it's kinda hard to reveal info on them.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story.**

 **Warning: If you're not so much of an Arisa fan as i am, well heads up, cause this is somehow focused on her, but do stick aroung. A lot of characters are going to be popping out so please read.**

 **~Shintori Khazumi**

* * *

"Good morning Nanoha-sama." Arisa greeted playfully as soon as she saw her friend walk in through the door. She could've sworn she saw Nanoha's eyes sparkle a bit, probably with unshed tears, but this thought was quickly confirmed once Nanoha had engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug, knocking the wind out of Arisa.

"Aaarrriiiissssaaa!" Nanoha wailed, burying her head in Arisa's chest, sobbing like a child. Arisa could only rub her back to get her to quiet down.

"Ssshhhh… Nanoha-sama, that isn't very ladylike." Arisa joked as she cupped Nanoha's face and made the girl look at her. "I'm alright now, so stop crying?" She offered Nanoha one of her best smiles.

"B-but… but! I was so worried! You were… what did you do? I thought you were hurt so badly, I just…" Nanoha was crying so hard Arisa had to laugh at her face.

"Nanoha, a crying face doesn't suit you at all. Here, how 'bout you sit there and we can talk, yeah?" Arisa pointed to a nearby chair and Nanoha complied, Fate drying her tears with her spare hanky.

"By the way, where's Suzuka?" Fate asked. Arisa held her index finger to her lips in a 'keep quiet' motion as she lifted her blanket to reveal a sleeping Suzuka positioned comfortably beside Arisa.

"She fell asleep after crying so hard. I thought she would never stop." Arisa chuckled lightly as she stroked Suzuka's hair in what Fate could only describe as a 'Loving Manner'. "I had to go through a lot to quiet her down." The girl beside her sighed pleasantly.

"You sure do care about her a lot, huh?" Fate asked Arisa who was still too preoccupied with playing with the soft purple locks to comprehend the words that came from her own mouth.

"Yeah… I really do." Fate quirked an eyebrow at Arisa, but did not say anything further while Nanoha just watched with a smile on her face.

A few moments of comfortable silence went by and no one said a word, just basking in the others' warmth, that is, until Fate decided to ask some things that intrigued her. Deciding it was safe since Nanoha and Suzuka were asleep, she let her curiosity out.

"Ne, Arisa…" Fate turned to her fellow blonde.

"Hmmm?" She replied with a quirk of her brow.

"What happened back there?" Fate said quietly, her voice low as Nanoha rested on her shoulder. "Nanoha… what's wrong with her? And you… what did you do? I cast a spell like you asked me to, one of my safe sleeping spells to calm her, but… what did **you** do back there?" Fate furrowed her brows when Arisa just shrugged.

"I don't know. Just a normal spell, I had a small hunch that if I cast it, it might help. No biggie." She replied, not letting anything slip past her well founded mask of indifference. Fate thought it was unnerving, even for someone like herself who was known for keeping a calm composure.

"That was no ordinary spell, and you know it Arisa. If it was, you wouldn't be this drained, nor do I think that Nanoha would be safely sleeping like this." Fate replied. "And as much as I hate to admit it, I think if I were in your position, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it." She looked Arisa in the eye as she said this. Arisa seemed to waver a bit and Fate thought she saw just the tiniest flicker of change in Arisa's facial features, but was quickly covered up as she replied.

"Nonsense. Anyone could've done that. I was just able to deal with it properly at the time." Fate didn't know why, but that just seemed to piss her off. Arisa was surely underestimating herself and Fate knew that that spell was a spell unique _only_ to _Arisa_ and to be used _only_ for _Nanoha. 'Just who exactly are you guys?'_ Fate sighed audibly, blaming the tension between them on the fact that they were tired due to the recent incident.

"Anyway Fate, now that we've got free time, I'd like to ask you about a couple things." Arisa said, shifting the topic as she felt like the previous one was a bomb waiting to explode.

"Yes?" Fate replied but was also worried if in case it was about her and her background.

"About the upcoming Inter-school battles, aren't there elimination rounds in each school to determine the representatives? And I heard some say that the date's pretty close."

"Oh… oh! I totally forgot!" Fate stood up abruptly, waking Nanoha up as she jumped into a battle stance.

"Wha-what's wrong? Are we being attacked?! Arisa, Suzuka Positions!" Nanoha yelled still half-asleep with her eyelids drooping.

"Pfffttt… Ahahahaha…hahaha HAHAHA." Fate and Arisa laughed as Nanoha's mind was slowly entering its right and conscious state. "C-calm down… ahaha… Nanoha. Everything's fine." Arisa told her friend as the girl turned a dozen shades of red.

"M-mou… why'd you have to wake me up like that? I panicked y'know." She directed a glare at Fate who only found it adorable with how the girl's face was tinted with red.

"Sorry. I just remembered that the TSAB are about to start soon. Time-space Academy Battles are usually pretty competitive. Each year there is the team brawl and the individual brawl to decide the representatives, but this year, they decided to put in a new section. The doubles. A brawl for partners. Usually, I'd choose Hayate for this but…" Fate looked at Nanoha with a blush. Nanoha also seemed to turn a little redder. "Would you-"

"Hi everyone! Arisa are you okay now?" Hayate suddenly burst in the room. Fate sent a glare Hayate's way. "You…"

"What?" Hayate asked, she clearly didn't know what she did wrong.

"Hayate-sam-… Hayate, Fate was about to…" She gestured towards Fate who was holding Nanoha's hand and Nanoha who was attentively looking at her.

"Oh. Sorry. So," Hayate paused looking at Fate then Nanoha. "You were confessing,huh? Sorry 'bout that."

"What?! What no!" Fate shrieked.

"Huh?" You weren't?"

"NO damn it… Nanoha I was gonna ask if you wanted to be my partner for the brawl." Fate told Nanoha, unable to look her in the eye.

"Eh? But what about me Fate-chan?" Hayate groaned.

"You can find another partner." Fate answered coldly. "And besides, you wanted to be paired up with that upperclassman… who was it again?"

"Ah… no she's not interested she said." Hayate replied waving her hand.

"Then someone else then. Someone from the lower years or other classes, you've got a lot to choose from, Hayate." Fate suggested.

"More importantly," Hayate diverted the topic. "The team battles. The requirements have already been posted. You can choose whoever you want on your team. The number of members you need are ten members. We already have five, unless you guys are planning to abandon me." Hayate looked at everyone who shook their heads. "Good. Now…"

"Hmmm… what's everyone talking about." Suzuka said as she sat up, having just woken up from her slumber.

"We were talking about the upcoming battles and were thinking about forming a team." Arisa said as Suzuka rubbed her eyes. Arisa took a brush from the table beside her and started to softly brush Suzuka's disheveled hair.

"Mmm… thanks. So where were we?"

"Ah, right. We need ten members. We have five right now so we need five more. Although…" Hayate pondered for a bit.

"Yes?" Fate asked.

"I already know who would be good for the remaining five." Hayate smiled. "But we have to actually ask them if they're willing to join our team. It might be hard, since I know a lot of people want to recruit these people."

"Hmmm? So who are they?"

* * *

Fate stared at the two cousins having a fierce stare off. "No. Hayate, my answer is still NO." The small first year middleschooler said clearly. At the same time, Fate also felt a pang of jealousy as she watched Nanoha hug the little one a little too closely in Fate's opinion. Hayate decided to go retrieve her members, as she put it, after classes that afternoon.

"She's so cute! Hayate-chan, why is she so adorably cute?!" Nanoha squealed as she hugged the younger student.

"Please Vita-chan! Come on. I'm already begging you here, and what's more, since the battles are by school in the long run, teams can be an assortment of students disregarding what year they are in. Pleeeaaaasseeee." Hayate told her younger cousin, Vita Yagami who just scowled at her.

"Come on, even Nanoha wants you in." Hayate said, knowing that her little cousin admired the transfer student in more ways than one.

"Ugh… If you don't let me go, I'm telling Signum-nee on you." Vita replied.

"Signum-nee? Vita-chan, Vita-chan are you and Signum-sensei related?" Nanoha asked.

"Oh…" Vita realized her slip, nodded her head since she knew she couldn't take it back. "She's my older sister and Hayate's our cousin." She said.

Arisa stepped closer and looked at Hayate and Vita, shifting her gaze and observing them closely. "Well, for one thing, the three of you have the same eyes, so I guess it makes sense." She pointed out the similarities among the three, the most obvious one being their baby-blue eyes.

"Ugh, to be related to someone like Hayate is troublesome in a lot of ways." Vita said.

"Hey, that's not very nice." Hayate mumbled, but then showed a soft smile. "So are you in?"

"Do I have a choice? You'd bug me 'til I'd agree, wouldn't you?" Vita looked at her cousin and returned the soft smile.

"Yey! One down, four more to go. Let's go!" Hayate cheered taking Vita's wrist and gesturing for the others to follow her.

"O-oi! Where are you taking me? Class isn't over yet!" Vita called to her cousin.

"Uh, yeah it is? The bell rang while we were talking." Hayate told her cousin pointedly.

"What?! You mean I missed my last period session?!" Vita yelled at her cousin.

"More importantly, Arisa-chan" Hayate quickly ignored the younger girl, causing her to fume more. "Are you sure it's ok for you to be up and walking around with us? You could rest more, you know. Don't worry we'll take care of the recruiting. Nanoha-chan too." Hayate looked at the two girls.

"It's fine, it's fine. I want to meet the people who are going to be our teammates anyway." Arisa said, although she laughed nervously and Hayate smirked at the reason why. "So I think I can walk without your help Suzuka?" She turned to the purple-haired heiress who just shook her head like a child and pouted.

"Not until I'm sure you're fine." She replied.

"And when will that be?" She said as she squeezed Suzuka into her since her arm was wrapped around Suzuka's shoulder.

"Nyahaha… I'll be fine as well, besides." Nanoha approached Hayate and Vita who was still fuming. "I got lots of power from Vita-chan!" Nanoha cuddled the girl again. "Ah… this is so calming."

"Na-nanoha! You can… cuddle me too." Fate said as she blushed. Everyone stared at her. "N-nevermind."

"Okay?" Vita looked surprised.

"Anyway Hayate-chan, who's next?" Suzuka asked.

"Well…"

* * *

"The archery club? We're recruiting someone from the archery club?" Vita said.

"Well not exactly. He _used_ to be in the archery club, but because of some accident, he quit." Hayate explained looking for someone in the room.

"If he quit, why is he still here then?" Suzuka asked.

"He loves the sport so he just watches it." Hayate replied. A member came trotting to Hayate and she whispered something in her ear and she gave Hayate a thumbs up, gesturing to the bench where a brown-haired male was seated, taking pictures of the athletes.

Hayate approached him first with the others following closely behind. Nanoha, Suzuka and Arisa noticed that everyone was looking at Hayate, Fate and Vita in awe and whispers could be heard all around. The activities even were halted in favor of watching this scene unfold.

' _Just what is going on in this school? Hayate is pretty popular!'_ Arisa thought, and she knew the other two thought the same as they speculated the scene in front of them.

"Vice Granscenic." Hayate addressed the male. "Seventeen years old, second year in highschool, member of the photography club half Japanese, half German and used to be ranked sixteenth in the whole school. Reported to be the best sharpshooter in the whole school." Hayate spoke.

"Student Council Vice President, what brings you here?" Vice asked not meeting the eyes of the said vice president.

"Hayate is the Student council's vice president?" Nanoha quietly asked Arisa who just nodded, having only realized this information now.

"Hey, don't call me that, but anyway, Vice-kun... Please lend us your strength. Join our team won't you?" Hayate asked the guy.

"Why would I?" He asked. "What good would someone like me be to you? And as you've probably heard, I don't even fight anymore. I can't be the best sharpshooter if I can't even shoot an arrow again." His voice sounded strained, like he was carrying a burden they could not relate to. "I can't risk hitting someone again. I can't." He stood up and walked out of the room, leaving everyone quiet.

* * *

"Hayate-chan, are we still going to try to recruit him?" Nanoha asked the following day during lunch.

"Of course we are. It'd be a shame if we gave up and… I want him to know that he has a second chance." Hayate finished with a solemn smile.

"Hmmmm."

"Anyway, we can get back to Vice later. Right now, let's try to recruit an old friend of mine. That genius spends too much time in the intelligence section. When will his brain pop?" Hayate said as they stood up after finishing their lunch."

"Wait a minute Hayate. You're gonna recruit _**Him**_?! Last time you tried doing that for the middleschool team battles, he told the professor to ban you from the intelligence classes for a month!" Fate said. True this guy was their close friend, but they hadn't seen each other since the entrance ceremony.

"He's been cooped up with that professor for too long. I wouldn't be surprised if they suddenly eloped."

"Hayate!"

"Just kidding. I told him beforehand to think about it. He said he would, so let's go see him." Hayate walked towards the library of the school. "I think he'll agree to this proposal in a heartbeat." Those words left everyone wondering what Hayate meant by them.

* * *

"Yuuno-kun? Yuuno-kun! Hayate-chan, you should've told me it was him!" Nanoha ran to the male happily and embraced him.

"So this is where you've been schooling Yuuno-kun." Suzuka smiled. Yuuno did not tell any of them his whereabouts when he left, but he made sure to communicate with them and they respected his privacy and wishes.

"Yo, Nanoha. Doing well? My cousin hasn't been a bother to you, has she?" He laughed as he saw his old friends and cousin.

"Oi, oi, don't say that. I'm a better friend than you at least. You left us to study here when we were thirteen and only come home once every five months. And you haven't come home these last two years!" Arisa sighed. "I'm glad to see you anyway." She smiled.

"Eh? Am I missing something here?" Fate asked. Vita just shrugged not knowing either.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that Fate-chan. This is Yuuno Scrya and-"

"I know who he is, Nanoha. What I'm asking is how do you know him?" Fate was wondering how two of her friends knew each other.

"Yuuno-kun is my best friend. He's also like my big brother. Hehe… he used to buy icecream for Suzuka and me all the time and Arisa would often comment how it was so unfair. Oh! Yuuno-kun and Arisa-chan are first cousins. Their moms are siblings and are both Japanese. Their fathers though aren't. They took after their dads I guess. Yuuno-kun is half Russian though." Nanoha explained.

"Ah. So you guys are just like siblings, right?" Fate asked.

"Yeah."

"Ok. Just confirming." Nanoha looked confused at that.

"Fate, don't worry. I know you're aiming for her, but if you hurt her in anyway…" Yuuno's face became dark. "Onii-chan's gonna get you." He looked at Fate who gave a curt nod in reply.

"Still, you call yourself _Onii-chan_?" Vita couldn't help but point out.

"A-ah! I thought it would sound cool and I _am_ two years older than some of you." Yuuno covered up his embarrassment. "Anyway," Yuuno regained his composure. "I'd love to join you guys."

"Yes!" Nanoha cheered as she hugged Yuuno. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah. Still, I've missed you guys a lot." He beckoned Suzuka to join the hug. The three then looked at Arisa expectantly.

"What? You're not expecting me to be all mushy with you guys too, right?" She said as she raised an eyebrow at them.

"Eh? Even if you and Suzuka always do it?" Yuuno grinned.

"We don't!" Arisa retorted but approached them nonetheless and gave her cousin a hug. "I guess I have missed you a little bit, Yuuno-nii." She gave him a tight squeeze as she smiled.

"Heh. Tsundere."

"Am not!" Arisa replied as she punched Yuuno's arm hard to which Yuuno began to call Arisa names such as 'Tsundere' and 'Tomboy'.

"So who are you recruiting next, Yagami?" Yuuno asked as he rubbed his sore arm.

"Oh. The next one is…"

* * *

"No. No way. Hayate, No!" Fate rejected even the thought of being teamed up with this person. Sure she loved him from the bottom of her heart, but how would you feel if you had to be teamed with your own older step-brother?

"It probably feels the same as being teamed with your older cousin." Vita and Arisa said simultaneously and nodded at Fate, as if they had read her thoughts.

"Fate." Chrono acknowledged the presence of the newcomers who came into the student council's room. "Vice president and-" He looked behind the two. "…Friends"

"Onii-chan, you're still too serious." Fate whispered to her brother who immediately blushed and bowed.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that. I guess dealing with students got me used to it. How is everyone, Yuuno?" He smiled at his close friend.

"I think everyone's fine." He replied. "Oh by the way, have you met the transferees?"

"No I haven't, but I've heard a lot from Fate and Hayate."

"Well, we hope they've only been good things." Nanoha spoke up, and Chrono took a good look at the three.

"Of course. Hey Fate, come here a sec." He beckoned his younger sister closer and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Is Nanoha the brunette beauty in the middle?" He asked Fate to which she replied with a nod. "Oh? Good luck then." He pushed her away and smirked.

"Oh! Where are my manners? I am Chrono Harlaown, Fate's older brother. As you can see, we look nothing alike since we're only step siblings, but we're closer than blood… I think." He laughed at Fate's embarrassed state.

"So, what business do you have with me Hayate? I've heard rumors that you have been collecting teammates for the tournament. Are you going to submit a form or… are you asking me to join?"

"Student Council President, Chrono Harlaown. We are requesting that you join our humble team for the tournament." Hayate bowed as the rest copied her gesture. "Please consider."

"Raise your heads." They did so. "Well, first of all, I'm the SCP so I don't think students will find it fair if most of the school's top 10 are on one team, am I right, Takamachi-san?" Chrono turned to Nanoha.

"EH?"

"You really don't tell them anything, you guys." Chrono turned to said people. "Yagami Vita, ranked 6th strongest student, despite her age Defeated the previous holder of said position after she entered the school. Yuuno Scrya, one of the schools _**'Ouji-five'**_."

"Ouji-five?" Suzuka asked.

"Ouji-five is the top five most handsome charmers on the campus, of course they are also powerful magic users in order to not shame themselves. Each month the rankings are voted for. Yuuno-kun, Vice-kun and Chrono-kun have never dropped out. Neither have the remaining two. Come to think of it, the monthly voting isn't needed if no one can actually beat them, these five." Hayate chuckled.

"Oh?" Arisa looked impressed.

"Anyway, Yuuno is ranked 7th, though his gap with Vita is very small."

"It's only because I rely on my tactics more than strength, and I can't help it if Vita's instincts as a fighting prodigy are better than mine. Her tactics are done on impulse, like her body was already conditioned for those movements."

"Yeah, that and you don't really fight or exercise as much as before." Hayate commented.

"What happened to the family's next pillar?" Arisa scoffed.

"I'm just focusing on studies, okay?" He said.

"Now Yagami Hayate…" Chrono cut in. "Ranked 2nd and holds a tie for that place with Fate Testarossa-Harlaown. And I hold the place currently for first, though that's a miracle since I'm pretty sure Hayate and Fate could beat me anytime." Chrono smiled. "Do you understand now, Takamachi-san?" Chrono smiled at Nanoha.

"Un. Our team is too overpowered?"

"Well, pretty much I guess, but we're not complete yet, right Hayate? Although there are other strong teams to oppose us like the N-numbers."

"N-numbers?"

"The Nakajimas and some friends. They pulled together a few members. Nove-san, a 3rd year middleschooler is ranked 5th along with her sisters Ginga and Subaru who are ranked fairly high. Subaru's best friend is also quite the sharp shooter." Chrono continued.

"Chrono's girlfriend, Amy-senpai is ranked the 4th too." Hayate said with a smirk to which Chrono blushed.

"A-anyway, Hayate I'm guessing that we're not yet complete and I have a sickening feeling that the next person you bring in won't please Fate very much." He said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Fate asked.

"Well, seeing the pattern of Hayate's recruitment, the next person she is going to is…"

* * *

"So you're Nanoha-chan, huh? How cute. Hey, how 'bout the two of us go out for a date, yeah? We can ditch Fate and ride off into the sunset." A charming blonde with familiar burgundy eyes, flirted. Though looking exactly like Fate, she somehow seemed older and was a few inches taller.

"A-Li-CIA! Don't go taking Nanoha to god knows where!" Fate fumed.

"Hayate-chan, who is this?" Nanoha asked as she sweatdropped.

"Oh. Alicia Testarossa-Harlaown. Seventeen and a second year. Ranked 3rd over all and as you may have guessed, she's Fate's older sister." Hayate introduced Alicia who shook Nanoha's hand. "She's also a member of the Ouji-Five."

"Eh? But-"

"She _is_ charming, right? And i never once mentioned that it was only for males."

"Ah." Nanoha was silent.

"Fate is also part of the Ouji-Five. They are the five irreplaceable members." Hayate grinned.

"Once again Hayate, Why?! I can stand Chrono, I guess, but Alicia too?!" Fate was now grasping at Hayate's neck, threatening to end her right there. It was after the afternoon classes when they decided to approach the last person that Hayate had in mind.

"F-fate… hah… you see, Alicia-chan is too good for some and she doesn't really join any tournaments, except the individual one, so I thought "Hey why not try to convince her by putting her siblings on the team?" Hehe…he?"

"Hayate…" Even Chrono sighed. "You know we're somewhat okay with it, but how do you think others will react. Our team having ranks first, second and third on it. It will cause an uproar and you know it."

"EH? But Chrono-kun, if we manage to win in the school, we won't be so powerful in the interhigh, you know. The teams there are like boss!" Hayate told the male.

"Still, I don't think this is fair." He replied.

"You say that, but you've already agreed on joining." Yuuno smiled at his friend. "Hayate really has her ways of persuasion, huh? I expected nothing less from the princess of Belka." Yuuno laughed out but suddenly quieted when he saw Hayate and Vita looking at him seriously.

"Princess of Belka?" Nanoha asked. She turned to her friends for answers, but neither of them looked at her. "I think I've heard of it before. Ne Suzuka-chan, Arisa-chan."

"Nevermind that Nanoha, right now… um… Harlaown-senpai." Arisa tried to change the topic.

"Yes?" Chrono and Alicia replied. "Oh who do you mean, me or…" They pointed at each other.

"Oh, Sorry," Arisa said realizing her mistake. "Alicia-senpai, are you going to join us?" Arisa asked the second year student.

"Hmmm, I'd love to, but as Chrono said, won't our team be unfair? I mean look…" She pointed to the members and Arisa nodded as she remembered Chrono's explanation. "See my point? And anyway, I'm not interested this year eit-"

"We're trying to convince Vice." Hayate said. Alicia stopped from walking away.

"Hmmm? So your motive was to bring the gang back together?" Alicia stated quietly, though her cheery tone was replaced with a cold one as she turned to Hayate. "That middleschool dreamteam of yours was highly looked upon but also despised by most." She pointed out. "Are you sure you want to try it again? I could name a few people who would kill to be invited into your group, princess." Alicia told Hayate what Fate mentioned earlier. She had a lot of people to choose from.

"Don't call me that, princess." Hayate replied to Alicia. The hall was silent as they could only hear the breeze blowing outside and the signal of the soft rain that had just begun. The school bell rung.

"Hear that? It's time for club. If you're not in one, you should go home. I heard the rain's going to be coming down hard." Alicia grabbed her bag from her classroom and left the group speechless.

* * *

"I can't believe Alicia would reject the idea so strongly." Hayate sighed as she lay down on the couch situated in a very comfortable room hidden deep in the forest. "I thought she'd be excited about it too."

"Well, what she said was true, though right?" Carim said as she poured some tea into a cup before offering it to Hayate.

"Still, Carim! She shouldn't have just walked away, not to mention she called me _princess_." Hayate said with slight distaste.

"It's true, isn't it?" Schach inserted. "So why not let it be?" She was confused to why it was such a big deal. Normally, Hayate would just let things slide, so what made this so different.

"Because Nanoha was there!" She burst out, slamming her palms on the table.

"Oh." There was silence until they heard someone call out.

"Oi! Carim, you here?" The unmistakable voice of Arisa was heard.

"Arisa? What is she doing here this late?" It was around the dorm's curfew time and Arisa, who was a resident there should've been inside.

"Yagami-hime." Arisa addressed Hayate. "Didn't expect to see you here." Surprise was evident on her face.

"Neither did I. So, what brings you here, Arisa? Shouldn't you be with Nanoha and Suzuka?" Hayate asked.

"I left Nanoha to Suzuka. They should be asleep by now." She sighed as her hand went through her hair. "Carim." She turned to the older woman. "I thought you said you had removed Nanoha's spell. She asked me about it earlier, you know. The attack just the other day, there shouldn't have been any." Arisa pointed out.

"Ah. Right, I was wondering about that too since I was sure I had removed it, but I guess only partly and Nanoha was only able to remember so much." Carim replied, offering Arisa a seat as she served her some tea.

"Thanks. So how do you explain it? I can't keep doing that thing all the time. It would be troublesome if I drained my magic when needed."

"So Father taught _you_ , huh?" Hayate spoke up, her tone suggesting that she didn't fully agree with that. "Frankly Arisa, only I can remove the spell completely since I am the one who cast it. Carim or Schach can remove bit by bit, but not too much." She explained.

"Then why not just remove all of it? It hurts her a lot, Yagami-hi-"

"Don't call me that. Not in front of Nanoha, not in front of anyone. Don't call me that here, Bannings. You may be a chosen attendant, but you can only do so much."

Arisa gritted her teeth. True as she was only a noble, her position was no higher than Carim or Schach. She could only speak against Hayate so much. "I understand. But then what do you propose we do for the meantime?" She refused to meet Hayate's gaze.

"We reveal it little by little. And only when the situation calls for it, yes?" Hayate said as she stood up to leave. "And Arisa..." Hayate's gaze was as cold as the time she left them all those years ago. "I'm counting on you to heal her during those times. Now, get back to the dorms if you can. If not, Carim please take care of her." And she left without any more comments. Arisa wanted to scream, she wanted to lash out and yell. She wanted to cry, but her eyes, her throat, they were dry. She couldn't say anything. Once again, Hayate had told her she was wrong and she could do nothing about it.

"Arisa… I think you should sleep here for the night." Carim put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder."

"Thanks. But…" She stood up. "I think I'll stay out tonight." She then ran out of the entrance of the cave and disappeared into the night.

* * *

The next morning, Hayate noticed that Nanoha and Suzuka were running around the school grounds asking questions. Curious, she approached them and put on a mask of cheeriness.

"Yo Nanoha-chan, Suzuka-chan. What's wrong? You both look tired." She noticed the tiny traces of tears on Suzuka's face.

"Hayate-chan! It's Arisa-chan. She didn't return to the dorms last night, neither did she come back this morning!" Nanoha exclaimed. "We've been so worried. Have you seen her Hayate?"

The said girl stiffened as she realized what happened. ' _That idiot. I thought I told her to go back or to stay with Carim. If she **did** leave, she wouldn't have forgotten to go back in the morning, right?'_

"I'm sorry Nanoha-chan. I haven't." She hid her expressions well. "Maybe she got locked out of the dorms and stayed with a friend, or maybe she's already in class."

"Maybe. I guess you're right."

"Yeah? So let's head to class now. We might be late." Hayate started walking to their class. Nanoha followed reluctantly.

"I think… I'll look around a little longer." Suzuka said and ran away Nanoha realizing it was a bit late to stop her.

* * *

"I never took you for the type to cut classes, Bannings." A student approached a tall tree in the forest where a figure lay on one of the branches.

"I could say the same thing to you, Alicia-sama. What about your fans?" She chuckled as the said person plopped down on the branch beside her.

"Meh, they won't really care. So what gives? It's unusual to see you alone and not by Takamachi's side. Something go wrong?" Alicia asked.

"Hmmm… No not really. I just" Arisa opened her eyes and stared at the blue sky as the breeze passed through her hair. "Needed a time to cool off." She breathed in the scent of nature and relaxed.

"Trouble with Hayate?"

"I guess. Hey Alicia, how does it feel to not be chosen to be the next heir to Mid-Childa, even if you are the supposed rightful heir? The 'Next in line'" Arisa suddenly asked with air quotes making Alicia amused at the gesture.

"Well someone did their research." Alicia sighed. "It's… upsetting and disappointing. I grew up trying to learn all the etiquette for nothing. I was molded to be the next heir until they just pop up and say I'm not the one who my own father chose. It isn't Fate either and… they won't really tell us who." She then turned to face Arisa. "Though I have a gut feeling I know who. You aren't going to tell her yet? I know you've already found out."

"And jeopardize my position beside Nanoha? No way. Yagami-hime will kill me." She laughed an empty laugh. "I want to stay by her side forever."

 _ **~0~**_

" _Please stay by her side. You are all that girl has."_

" _Carim, Yagami-sama, that is not true!"_

" _Is it? Arisa, Suzuka, promise me you will never leave her, the little princess." Shuuichiro felt the tears cascade down his cheeks as he watched his daughter erase her friend's memories. Arisa felt Suzuka's grip on her hand tighten. She renewed her resolve._

" _Even if my soul is forced out of my body and the body itself is burned to ashes, I pledge on my knight's honor that I will forever protect the princess." She spoke loudly._

" _ **Thank you, my brave, young knights."**_

 _ **~0~**_

* * *

 **A/N: So I guess this is it for now? See you in the next chappies. Yes I find Vita totally adorable! I wish I could hug her myself! Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks to everyone who has read this story. I'm at 1,606 hihihi… thank you for the support and see you again! Also will Alicia and Vice join? Did they have a fallout or something? WHo knows? Right? Also I'm thinking about adding Dearche and Levi... hihihi**

 **~Shintori Khazumi.**


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